NEWSLETTER #4
31 January 2022
Come as you are, bring what you can and take what you need
What's On at The Keepers?
We now have a full timetable of activities going on at The Keepers, including:
* AgeUK Gloucestershire Springboard group
* Chair Exercise classes
* Teens in Crisis (TIC+)
* Dementia Connections
* Job Club
* Qigong classes
* Craft and Chat (see the bottom of this newsletter for a picture!)
* IT courses for beginners
* 'Welcome Space' run by Independence Trust and CALMHS
* Creative arts courses - a Nail Art course run by Infobuzz started this month
* Inclusive Drama group run by Inclusion Gloucestershire
* AgeUK Glos Help Team and the Health Visitor now here monthly
Our AgeUK Glos Springboard group
If you are interested in finding out more about anything that is going on, or if you need information about other groups and services in Wotton and the surrounding area, please give us a call on 07585 466418 or pop in during the following hours:
Monday - 9.00am - 4.00pm (Closed Bank Holidays)
Tuesday - 9.00am - 4.00pm
Wednesday - 9.00am - 1.00pm
Thursday - 9.00am - 4.00pm
Friday - 9.00am - 1.00pm
You can find all up-to-date activities for the current week and month on our website here:
Updates: A Very Keepers' Christmas
Emma, our Hub Manager, and Cathy, our Hub Coordinator, as elves!
* The Keepers followed the Christmas tradition started by WAMA last year: 13 Keepers' volunteers delivered frozen Christmas dinners to people's doors in the Wotton area on Christmas Day.
* We encouraged people to try doing a "Reverse Advent Calendar", where instead of getting something each day in the lead-up to Christmas, you gave something each day. Many individuals donated items for our Christmas Food Bags, paying for basic food, fresh fruit and vegetables, Christmas treats and presents for adults and children.
* Our Christmas food boxes went down very well, with our volunteers packing them up and wrapping gifts to go inside too.
* Thanks to pupils at the British School Pre-School who made Christmas decorations for people to collect when visiting The Keepers.
* We also collected no-longer-needed Christmas cards for Cobalt Health in Cheltenham. We dropped off several boxes full of cards, so thank you to those who kindly donated! This charity supports local people across Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire with cancer, dementia and other conditions.
One of our Turkey Christmas Dinners from the Freezer
Christmas Carols at The Keepers
On Christmas Eve, our drop-in café was made extra special by these wonderful carol singers! See the full video on our Facebook page:
The Keepers' Christmas Grotto
The Keepers' first appearance at Christmas Under The Edge did not disappoint! It was a great way to meet different people in our community and, of course, dress up as elves!
The Keepers' Open Day a "ringing" success
Thank you to all those who came to our first ever Open Day on Thursday 9th December. The Keepers was officially opened by the Wotton Town Crier, in fine voice!
Unfortunately the new Covid restrictions prevented us from showing people round The Keepers' building as much as we wanted. If you didn't make it - come and see us another day and we'll show you round.
To see the video of Wotton's Town Crier, George Carpenter, officially opening the building, please go to our Facebook page!
Thank you to our volunteers!
As a community-led hub, we couldn't do all that we do without our amazing volunteers. We currently have:
* 29 Reception volunteers
* 10 Café volunteers
* 5 Duke of Edinburgh volunteers
* 15 Cake Makers
* 32 volunteers who have done other volunteering jobs for us.
Cakes and Bakes looking (and tasting) fabulous!
Wednesday Café goes from strength to strength
* Since November, we have had many different visitors attend our café on Wednesday mornings, including Wotton Debt Advice, the Health Visitor, the Neighbourhood Warden, the Police Community Support Officer (PCSO), and Wotton's Climate Action Network (WottonCAN).
* We ran extra cafés on Christmas Eve (with its informal choir!) and all day on 29th December
Our Craft & Chat group which runs alongside every other Café
New meals in the Community Freezer
Since November we've had some new meals fly in and out of Freda the Community Freezer including:
* Chicken Curry
* Vegetable Chilli
* Our Beef Stew was the fastest to ‘sell’ out
... (all meals are 'Pay as you Feel')
Have you tried a meal yet from our Community Freezer? The meals are for everyone and anyone who needs them
Support our work and have a great night out
On March 19th, we will be running our first fundraising event - The Hope Ball - alongside another local charity, Bridge2Aid. Tickets are £50 each and there will be a few tables for The Keepers' volunteers and supporters.
It's a fantastic night out, with great food and great music for some great causes. If you want to join us, email thekeeperscommunityhub@gmail.com
Get Involved...
There are lots of ways to get involved and/or to support The Keepers:
* Volunteer - there are a number of different roles/jobs.
* Fundraise - running a small event, or making a regular or one-off donation on our website. You can also take part in the Lucky Severn Lottery that takes place each week. Click here for more info. If you decide to join in, remember to choose The Keepers as your charity to support!
* Share info with neighbours, friends and colleagues who may not receive our newsletter.
* Follow us and like our posts on Social Media to ensure the information gets to as many people as possible.
* Or simply..... Next time you are ordering anything on Amazon, go to https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ instead and choose "The Keepers - Wotton Area Community Hub" as your charity. They will donate to us each time you order.
If you would like to made a donation to us directly, you can do so by clicking the button below or through our website. Many thanks for your support!
