big red bus club

11-13 year-olds: Make music and get active with The Big Red Bus Club this summer

The Charlton Champion

power up flyer

Charlton’s Big Red Bus Club has been busy branching out recently – its latest venture is into summer sessions to help 11 to 13-year-olds rebuild their confidence through music and fun after a shattering 16 months. The club’s ANNIE DREWRY explains more…

March 16, 2020 was, for many children, simply the day the music died. For those kids that didn’t already have instruments at home or access to private online lessons, music simply disappeared.

In Charlton, like the rest of the country, music education not only came to an abrupt halt. Not just the lessons ending, but the community music programmes such as the after-school drumming clubs or choirs that were as much about friendship as they were the performances that resulted from them.

For your average 11-year-old, the summer is full of music. It’s when you head down to Primark to pick up your outfit for your final primary school disco, or the nervous excitement waiting to find out if you’ve got a song in your final school play. It’s endless practising for your final year assemblies, and the sharing of playlists among friends – the friends that you will leave as a memory of your childhood as you move to secondary school and make the friends that will see you become an adult.

The Big Red Bus Club has always believed in the power of the arts to build our community in Charlton, whether it be two toddlers sharing finger-painting or the mums in our Baby Blues Choir raising awareness of maternal mental health through performance. We know friendships are built when we create together.

So this summer, we are putting on two free programmes for Charlton’s 11-13 year olds.

Pump it Up, a week-long series of music workshops culminating in kids creating their own track and recording it, and Power Up, a whole week of activities ranging from pottery to engineering activities specifically for girls.

Last year was hard. At the Big Red Bus Club we want to bring the music back into kids’ lives, help them make local friends and to hang out and just be kids again.

You can help by letting local kids know that we are here.

Pump It Up: Monday 26 to Friday 30 July, 11-4pm, music workshops including singing, percussion and composition with a whole range of local artists.

Power Up (girls only): Monday 2 to Friday 6 August, 10-3pm, wellbeing workshops including pottery, yoga, engineering and a day trip.

To book for either free programme, visit thebigredbusclub.com/summerschemes.

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Big Red Bus Club wins grant to keep lockdown storytelling sessions running

Darryl Chamberlain
Big Red Bus Club, Charlton
The doors are closed but the storytelling goes on

Charlton Park’s Big Red Bus Club has been given a grant to help it keep its volunteer programme running for another year – including its online storytelling sessions for families stuck at home during lockdown.

The charity, which runs the under-fives’ play centre off Cemetery Lane, was awarded £6,825 from the housing association L&Q’s Place Makers Fund.

Since the coronavirus emergency began, its volunteers have been running daily live storytelling online for local families with a range of activities and songs. These run every weekday at 1.30pm.

The club also offers career development support for its volunteers, aiming to support those kept out of the workplace through being a parent.

Its chief executive, Annie Drewry, said: “Big Red Bus Club and the families we support are facing uncertain times. L&Q support means we can carry on and keep supporting families and children so they don’t feel so alone and isolated even though they are living in isolation. We urge local families across Greenwich to join our online community of activities that L&Q support has kept alive.”

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Coronavirus in Charlton: Log on for Big Red Bus Club’s online storytelling sessions

Darryl Chamberlain

The Big Red Bus Club next to Charlton Park has had to close its doors because of the Covid-19 outbreak – ending its stay-and-play sessions for under-fives.

But yesterday it began storytelling sessions online, so you can keep the little ones entertained.

“Join the Big Red Bus team online at 1.30pm every week day for songs & stories and to share our best stay at home activities, as we experiment with going online.

“Our first story Peace at Last, read by Annie, follows poor old Daddy Bear and his nocturnal adventure trying to get some sleep in the noisest house in the world!”

Charlton’s flat-dwellers might be able to identify with that.

Daddy Bear’s adventures were yesterday’s story, so there’ll be something new today – head over to The Big Red Bus Club website to find out how to take part.

If you’re doing something special to help local communities get through the Covid-19 crisis, drop us an email and we’ll try to feature it on the site.

Made in Chelsea star visits Big Red Bus Club for BBC’s Children in Need

Darryl Chamberlain
Binky Felstead joined in storytelling activities

Made in Chelsea star Binky Felstead has visited The Big Red Bus Club in Charlton Park to launch a campaign ahead of the BBC’s annual Children In Need appeal.

Children In Need funds the club’s Play Plus project, which allows parents and children under five with special educational needs to take part in music and art activities.

Felstead joined in with storytelling and sensory play to launch the Power of Play campaign, which aims to help children in every community in the UK have somewhere safe to play so they can develop their skills.

She said: “I had such a fantastic time at the project. It was brilliant to meet with the project workers, the parents and their children and to see how much they enjoyed the play activities was incredibly special.”

The Power of Play campaign is being held with Asda, where customers will be able to pick up free “play passes” which children will be able to ‘’trade in” with an adult for 30 minutes of play. Each of the play passes offers a different play activity, and will help children to learn a variety of life skills, such as teamwork, patience and resilience, that will aid their development.

Steph Brett-Lee, Asda’s senior director of community and corporate affairs, said: “At Asda we are so pleased that our Power of Play campaign with BBC Children in Need will help to provide even more play opportunities, just like this one, across the UK.

“It’s fantastic to see how the money raised helps support groups like the Big Red Bus Club to fund their Play Plus project which gives children a place where they can enjoy inclusive play activities and make new friends. It’s clear to see how much that this is valued and enjoyed by the children and their parents.”

This year’s Children In Need appeal is on Friday 15 November; shoppers can find out more about Power of Play at asda.com/children-in-need.

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Hill-climbing kids complete 100km cycling challenge for Big Red Bus Club

Darryl Chamberlain
Daisy and Anatoliy
Would you cycle up Frances Street after riding through Kent and Essex? Daisy and Anatoliy did

Two local 12-year-olds cycled 100 kilometres through London, Kent and Essex at the weekend to raise money for The Big Red Bus Club, the family wellbeing charity based in Charlton Park.

Daisy and Anatoliy, who met as three-year olds at one of the club’s free family stay and play sessions, cycled solidly for almost eight hours – and were inspired to take on the challenge after supporting adult cyclists who have completed the same charity ride in previous years.

They cycled for eight hours on Saturday, beginning and ending at the Big Red Bus Club, including the hills and crossing the river at the Woolwich and Tilbury ferries. Daisy and Anatoliy are trying to raise £1,750 for the charity.

Daisy and Anatoliy both almost a decade ago and were inspired to take on the mammoth cycle challenge after supporting the adult cyclists who have completed this charity ride in previous years.

Daisy and Anatoliy on the ferry

Daisy said: “The best moment was the feeling of getting up Frances Street, the very last hill, and knowing at the top I was going onto the home stretch and I was going to do it. The worst moments were going up hills when I got a feeling in my legs that I couldn’t keep going, but I am so happy that I kept on and competed the whole ride.

“The Big Red Bus Club has been a part of my life since I was so little, I love walking past and seeing the new little children playing.”

Anatoliy said: “The best bit of the day was at 20 miles sitting down and having a hot chocolate on the Tilbury ferry. I can’t wait for next year.”

The Big Red Bus Club is open weekday afternoons for free stay-and-play for under-fives, run by volunteers.

To donate to Daisy and Anatoliy’s appeal, visit localgiving.org/fundraising/anatoliy-daisy-charity-bike-ride/.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE CHARLTON CHAMPION

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Ward Budgets are back: £30,000 to spend on community projects in Charlton

Neil Clasper
Story telling at Big Red Bus Club Play Plus in Charlton
Story telling at Big Red Bus Club’s Play Plus scheme, which as benefited from ward budget funding previously

Greenwich Council’s ward budget scheme has reopened, with £30,000 available to each council ward over the next four years. The scheme is intended to fund community initiatives such as community and social schemes, environmental issues and well-being and health projects, with ideas being proposed by residents and community groups then approved by ward councillors.

Funds were made available to a range of schemes in the last round, including an air quality monitoring project, a campaign against cold callers, a primary school’s sensory garden, and the Charlton & Woolwich Free Film Festival – read more about the schemes funded in the last budget round here.

Annie Keys of the Big Red Bus Club, which has received funding for specialist play equipment for disabled children amongst other projects, told The Charlton Champion: “Big Red Bus Club has been incredibly fortunate to be supported through Charlton’s ward budget scheme. It’s been great to help us try out new ideas and projects that local families have wanted to see happen in Charlton. A perfect example is Play Plus; £750 helped us to buy sensory play equipment for children who have additional needs.

That little bit of funding three years ago led to a whole programme of support for local SEND (Special Education Needs and Disabled) under-fives and their families. Now, Play Plus has three years of funding from Children in Need, for a specialist support worker, a programme of community arts and every Monday a whole day of targeted activities including Makaton story telling.

Our local Charlton councillors have also supported Large and Legging It our running group for women over 30BMI, and this year a new project aimed at families that could benefit from English as a Second Language (ESOL) support with their under fives. If any community groups want to come along and have a chat about how our projects have benefitted, we would be happy to share experiences. Get in touch by email at party [@] thebigredbusclub.com”

Greenwich Council says that Ward Budget funding should support initiatives that:

  • promote the well-being of the community and which are developed in response to local priorities and/or to meet a need identified from within the ward
  • look to provide additional funding where community groups are already making efforts to raise funds to support the project
  • are developed and monitored by local councillors, making use of their knowledge of local needs and priorities
  • have consensus across a ward or between wards
  • enhance the council’s community leadership role and promote civic pride.

If you have a project idea you think could be funded, contact your local ward councillor.

The Charlton Champion has been covering the ward budgets since they were launched in 2015 – read more of our ward budget stories here.

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Greenwich ward budgets are set to return – how much was spent in Charlton last time?

Neil Clasper3 Comments
Charlton House front lawn from above
Ward budget funds were allocated to Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust for a laser survey of Charlton House’s grounds

Greenwich Council Ward Budget scheme is all set to return, leader Danny Thorpe announced last week. So we thought we’d take an overdue look at what was funded in Charlton ward during the last round.

Tweet from Danny Thorpe

The announcement came during last week’s full council meeting – watch it here.

Each ward in the borough was allocated a £30,000 budget to be spent on schemes proposed by the community and selected for funding by local councillors.

When we checked in on the schemes in July last year, only 22% of the £30,000 budget had been allocated.

So how does it look a year later?

PROJECT AMOUNT APPROVED (£) RECIPIENT HOW THE PROJECT WILL IMPROVE THE WELLBEING OF THE AREA AND BENEFIT THE LOCAL COMMUNITY DATE APPROVED
The Big Red Bus Club              950.00 The Big Red Bus Club To provide specialist play equipment for the Big Red Bus Club, Stay and Play service for disabled children in Charlton. 21/07/2016
Thorntree Community Garden                      500.00 Thorntree Primary School To provide gardening equipment, plants and shrubs to renovate a piece of land next to Thorntree Primary school as a community garden for the school children to plant and maintain. 21/07/2016
Valley Hill Hub – Air Pollution Monitors                      120.00 Valley Hill Hub To fund 10 air pollution monitors to install around the Valley Hill Hub area to monitor to measure air quality in the area and examine what affect the local topography may have on possibly trapping pollution. 11/4/2017
Charlton Hope Sale                   1,500.00 Charlton Hope Sale The funding will be used to promote the work of the outreach project and provide practical help sessions for children and families in need along with a summer celebration for the community. 28/04/2017
Guide Camps 2,940.50 7th Charlton Guides To support the cost of an annual residential trip for the 7th Charlton Guides and 1st Charlton Rangers. 6/7/2017
Cold Calling Campaign 740.00 Central Charlton Residents Association To support by the Central Charlton Neighbourhood to run a cold calling campaign targeting cold callers in the Charlton area. 31/08/2017
Charlton Society Events Programme 1,620.00 The Charlton Society To support an events programme on matters of local interest for the Charlton Community 31/08/2017
Cherry Orchard School – Sensory Garden Project  2,000.00 Cherry Orchard School To provide a timber framed canopy for the nursery outdoor play area to complete the works to the sensory space. 29/11/2017
Large and Legging It – Big Red Bus Club 2,425.00 Big Red Bus Club To support a health and fitness campaign in Charlton run by the Big Red Bus Club focussed at women struggling with weight issues. 29/11/2017
Charlton and Woolwich Free Film Festival 1,981.30 Charlton and Woolwich Free Film Festival To support a local volunteer film festival bringing communities together to enjoy films in various locations across SE7 and SE18. 22/01/2018
Thorntree Music Project  854.96 Thorntree School To purchase musical instruments for Thorntree Primary school both to expand the potential to learn new instruments and to support the provision of public performances to engage with the local community. 26/01/2018
Valley Hill Hub – Air Pollution Monitors  120.00 Valley Hill Hub To undertake a second air quality survey in the Charlton area during October 2018. 14/02/2018
Laser Survey on Charlton House Grounds 6,985.00 Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust To carry out a digital survey of the grounds within Charlton House to identify the historic features of the landscape which may be undiscovered during its changing development through its 400 year history 3/3/2018
Big Red Bus – ESOL Equipment and Resources  2,630.00 Big Red Bus Club To support the Big Red Bus Club in providing English language support to a diverse range of service users whose first language is not English. 2/2/2018
Greenwich Foodbank Van (£6k split between 14 Wards)  428.00 Greenwich Foodbank To support the purchase of van to facilitate the efficient transport of food collections around the borough. 6/5/2016
TOTAL   25,794.76

By our calculations that’s over 85% of the budget allocated by the time the funding round closed.

Many thanks to the Positive Plumstead Project for passing on the cross-borough list of approved applications. We hope that the next round will be easier to follow: we suggest a page per ward on Greenwich Council’s website would allow residents to keep up with what’s been approved through the year.

We hope to bring more information on the next scheme following July’s Cabinet meeting.

PS. if anyone would like to go through the numbers for the wards adjacent to Charlton (Woolwich Riverside, Peninsula, Kidbrooke with Hornfair), we’d love to add them – get in touch!

The Charlton Champion provides news and information about issues and events in London SE7.
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