News in from Charlton House about a concert on Friday 16th November, where the Decus Ensemble will be performing a celebration of Black British and African Classical Composers at Charlton House:
plainsightSOUNDis a research project by oboist Uchenna Ngwe, exploring, uncovering and promoting the work of Black British and African musicians working in European and West African art or classical music. Although modern composers are included, the main focus is on musicians who were active before the 1970s. The Decus Ensemble will be performing the first concerts in this series, which includes music for instrumental ensemble by Segun Akinola, Errollyn Wallen and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
Concert dates:
– Saturday 27th October – 2pm, Southwark Cathedral
– Sunday 4th November – 3pm, Sutton House, Hackney
– Friday 16th November – 7.30 pm, Charlton House, Greenwich
Tickets are free but should be booked in advance here.
Can you help Charlton Toy Library with a donation to its Christmas Food Hampers scheme?
It’s that time of year again! We are proud to announce we will be providing our annual Christmas Food Hampers and presents to some of our Outreach families, but we NEED YOUR HELP! We rely on your donations. Please help us make a family’s Christmas this year. People can bring the donations either to the Charlton Toy Library (Tuesday/Thursday/Friday between 9:30-12:30) or to the Office at Charlton House (Monday to Friday between 10 am to 4 pm).
Charlton Toy Library is a Registered Charity set up in 1982, and can be found at Charlton House, Charlton Rd, London SE7 8RE. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.
Charlton’s pop-up craft shop returns this weekend, with local makers The Accidental Knitter, Fiona Veacock Ceramics, and Harbour Pots bringing a Day of the Dead theme to their shop on the corner of Bramshot Avenue and Sherington Road.
The Corner At 96 opens 8.30am-5pm on Friday, then 10am-5pm Saturday and Sunday. Before that, they tell us they’ll be getting in the Halloween spirit and joining in with local trick or treating on Wednesday evening.
And we’ve got something for sale there too! If you’re a Charlton Champion member you’ll already have had an email about our new Greetings from Charlton postcard – the best way to show off Charlton to your non-local friends and family – and we’re pleased to be able to stock them at The Corner At 96.
So call by, start your Christmas shopping, and support The Charlton Champion by buying a postcard (or five, or 10…)
The side, which survived the closure of the last part of the factory in 1996, has bounced around minor leagues for years, recently settling into Division 1 of the Southern Counties East Football League – the 10th tier of English football (six promotions away from the Football League). They finished a decent fifth last season and are currently in third place.
The Ropes’ modest home is at Meridian Sports & Social Club on Charlton Park Lane – there’s a clubhouse and bar, and a little stand by the pitch. The ground is shared with Meridian VP, who play in the same division.
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We got to see the Ropes in cup action on Saturday – a London Senior Trophy first round match against South Kilburn FC of the 11th-tier Middlesex County League.
And we got some value for our £5 admission – after Bridon Ropes edged their opponents 1-0 in the first half, they ran rampant after the break and ran out 8-0 winners over the North Londoners, featuring a hat-trick from winger Henry Dasofunjo scored in just eight minutes.
The Ropes won this trophy in 2014 and from what we saw today, have every chance of doing it again this season. If you’re lacking a football fix or are waiting for the Addicks’ hated owner Roland Duchâtelet to exit The Valley, it’s well worth a trip up to Meridian Sports Ground to see them in action – they are next at home on Saturday 3 November, with a league match against Phoenix Sports Reserves.
Every winter, thousands of people in the UK end up with no home. It’s a national problem and sometimes it feels like there is nothing we can do. But there is. Greenwich Winter Night Shelter is a team of people from local churches and communities who provide beds, food and company for people without a home. From 14 November 2018 to 12 March 2019, volunteers will give a few hours each week, helping dozens of people get back on their feet.
Would you like to join a team that makes a big difference to people’s lives?
Volunteers are needed for evening, overnight and breakfast shifts – particularly overnight and breakfast shifts. The Shelter operates at a different venue each night of the week, and full training is provided.
For more information, please contact project manager Helen Othen – email: gwnsprojectmgr[at]gmail.com.
The Greenwich Winter Night Shelter network:
Sunday: St James’ Church Hall, Kidbrooke Park Road, SE3 0DU – Nearby buses: 178, 286, 132, 89 Monday: Christ Church, Trafalgar Road, SE10 9EQ – Nearby buses: 177, 180, 286, 422,
129, 188, 386 Tuesday: St George’s Church, Glenluce Road, SE3 7SQ – Nearby buses: 286, 108, 422 Wednesday: OneSpace Youth & Community Centre, Kidbrooke Park Road, SE3 9YY – Nearby buses: B16, 178 Thursday: St Mark’s Church Centre, 22 Greenwich South Street, SE10 8TY – Nearby buses: 386, 180, 199 Friday: St Thomas’ Church, Woodland Terrace, SE7 8EW – Nearby bus: 380 Saturday: Blackheath & Charlton Baptist Church, Marlborough Lane, SE7 7DF – Nearby buses: 89, 178, 386
The Charlton Champion is grateful to LARA RUFFLE COLES for sending us her photos, videos and observations from Sunday’s Horn Fair event at Charlton House:
Even though the grey and rainy weather may have stopped some from venturing outside, this year’s Horn Fair at Charlton House was lively and entertaining – if not as bustling as 2017.
My favourite element of the day was the live music from the Royal Air Force Cadets, The Friends’ Musick and the Horn Fair Players. The music generated a very warm and inviting atmosphere, and it was wonderful to hear the music floating around the house as you moved from room to room.
The range of stalls was more arts and crafts than food, this was a bit disappointing as last year there were more food stalls including a really good quality smoked salmon stall selling sandwiches. Only chocolate, honey, coffee and Caribbean food was on offer, and The Giggly Pig Company had already packed up when I arrived at peak eating time just before 2pm. We couldn’t find Wandercrust Pizza, unfortunately; the tea rooms were open, but I would have liked to scoff down a few slices of pizza!
If you ventured outside, visitors were able to have a good nosy round the newly reopened Summer House. The main room and undercroft (also a WWII air raid shelter) could be viewed, and panels were on display detailing the recent refurbishment.
This year’s theme was the hundred year anniversary of Charlton House opening as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) hospital – which felt a little odd given the Horn Fair’s previous reputation as a bawdy and debauched affair! It might have better to focus on the upcoming Armistice centenary as a whole, and the VAD theme didn’t feel very present as you moved from room to room. The theme also seemed at odds with the commercial aspects of the event.
However, balancing the commercial and educational parts of any charitable organisation is always tricky, and is something that the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust – only established four years ago – is still working on.
More importantly, we should all be supporting events like the Horn Fair as they allow charities to keep beautiful and historically vital buildings like Charlton House open for all of us to enjoy. Roll on 2019!
An offshoot of St. Peter’s ABC, an amateur boxing club that’s been in the area since the early 1900s, Champions 4 Change “uses boxing, fitness and mentoring as a vehicle for positive change in young people”.
Led by director Scott O’Connor, the team run a number of programmes designed to develop fitness and mental wellbeing through boxing, for children and older people – including programmes focussed on young carers.
Older children work their way through the ASDAN GB Boxing Awards programmes, gaining recognised qualifications as they go, and can then go on to help train other children and adults as they progress, gaining further experience and confidence as part of the process.
C4C works closely with St Peter’s, signposting young people into the club once they have reached a certain level, or if they wish, to take their boxing to the next level and do it competitively. As well as running programmes in schools, Champions 4 Change also runs one-to-one personal training sessions.
Also visiting on Saturday was Matthew Pennycook, MP for Greenwich and Woolwich, who took a boxing lesson from C4C director Scott O’Connor.
He said: “I really enjoyed my training session with Scott and the chance to see first hand the difference that Champions 4 Change is making for young people and also older residents. It’s a real asset for our area and deserves more support.”
‘No gym bunnies’
One of the club’s regulars, Helen Jakeways, who kindly introduced us to C4C, says, “I’ve been going to the over-40s sessions for four months now and thoroughly enjoy the friendly atmosphere and exercise provided by Scott and volunteer coaches Jack and George.
“I only go once a week but there has definitely been an improvement in my overall levels of fitness and strength. I’ve also had a couple of enjoyable one-to-one sessions with Scott which really helped with my boxing technique. Scott and his team carefully manage activity to suit different needs and there is no pressure to work beyond what you feel comfortable doing.
“It’s good fun (and great exercise) to work with the team on the pads and they all have a sense of humour, which is a must when you’re facing shots from beginners.
“Highly recommend this invaluable local resource if you want to up your fitness game in a relaxed and friendly environment and try something a bit different. No intimidating Lycra-clad gym-bunnies – just nice people who genuinely care about helping others to get fit.”
This writer enjoyed his visit to the Saturday morning session so much that he went back on Tuesday to try a taster of the over-40s programme (6.15-7pm, Tuesdays) – and has promised to return! I’d recommend it for anyone looking to get fit in a friendly, supportive environment.
Matthew Pennycook, MP for Greenwich and Woolwich, takes a boxing lesson from Champions 4 Change director Scott O’Connor
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What’s on at C4C this October half-term
Champions 4 Change will be running a bootcamp for children during October half-term
The Charlton Champion 