LUNCH CLUB – SUMMER 2014

Over the summer break at the Rainbow Centre we served 475 meals to 54 different children who attended our Lunch Club. Forty volunteers from the community had great fun running the Lunch Club for four weeks throughout the summer and on average between 35 and 40 children attended each day.

The Lunch Club helps families during the school holidays whose children normally receive free school meals during term time, by providing a healthy and nutritious two course meal as well as load of fun activities each day for almost two hours.

Highlights this summer were our sports day, where all the children took part in races such as egg & spoon, three legged race, sack race, as well as long jump and much more. Each child was awarded a medal at the end of the day and two were awarded a special medal, one for Star Sportsman and the other for Star Sportswoman.

Another great day was our visit to London Zoo, where we spent nearly the whole day and took a packed lunch. We saw an amazing and fun bird display, which was also funny. We saw the tigers being fed, watched the penguins swimming and saw some beautiful butterflies plus loads more! We all returned home tired, but having had a great day. Barnet Community Projects would like to thank Karen Hedges and her volunteers for all the hard work they put into organising the Lunch Club.

The next Lunch Club will run in the February half-term (Monday 16th – Friday 20th February 2015) from 11.30am – 1.25pm and we also hope to run a one-off event at Christmas. If you are interested in finding out more or would like to register your child then please pop into the Rainbow Centre for a registration form or call 020 8441 9837.

POP-UP CINEMA ON DOLLIS VALLEY ESTATE…

 

On the 1st November Barnet Community Projects supported Art Against Knives to organise a community event which transformed the Rainbow Centre on Dollis Valley into a free pop-up cinema for the day. The project was designed in collaboration with local residents to create a unique on-trend community event for young people. Films were selected and voted for by Dollis Valley residents and were shown on the big screen on the day! As well as the film screening there were warming refreshments, popcorn (of course!) and a pop-up nail bar hosted by DOLLIS DOLLS NAILS who created a menu of film-inspired nail art. We had 85 people who turned up for this event and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all who came.

Thanks to the Royal Parks deckchair team for our cosy stripy seating … the front row was in high demand, with crowds queuing outside an hour before we opened!

We asked people what the best thing about the day was. Two of our faves were “seeing everyone enjoy themselves” and “the whole community being united”.

The event is part of a series of free community events we have been delivering this year for young people in Barnet as part of our Creative Collaborations Programme. Over the next three years we will be working with communities to design creative projects aimed at engaging with hard to reach young people in areas of high deprivation. We can’t tell you what these are yet, as it’ will be up to the local young people to tell us what they want. What we can tell you is that the programmes will be covering everything from skills training and creative thinking, through to group discussion and exciting showcase opportunities. In the past we have delivered community sports tournaments, graffiti workshops, music projects, trainer design workshops and T-shirt making course. We have worked in collaboration with brands such as DC Shoes, Gola and Universal Music to facilitate unique, on-trend opportunities that young people want to be part of.

Job Club

Jayson Winter and Georgia Lansbury showed an interest in cooking at our weekly Job club Project that runs every Wednesday 12pm – 4pm at the Rainbow Centre. At the same time as they expressed their interest, The Prince’s Trust was also advertising a new cooking programme for young people.

After seeing the cooking programme flyer, Georgia and Jayson attended a taster day session and were then enrolled onto the week long ‘Get Started with Cooking Programme’ delivered by The Prince’s Trust and Food Academy in October.

The programme also had support and the expertise from a special guest – Levi Roots (Mr Reggae Sauce).

At first they weren’t too keen on travelling all the way to Oval and East Ham, but once they got going on the course, horses couldn’t have chased them away! During the programme Georgia and Jayson were taught professional knife skills and also how to prepare a variety of foods such as: salmon paté, Mackerel Paté, stuffed mushrooms, guacamole and salsa as well as a variety of roast vegetables. Levi Roots actually mentioned that the salmon paté was amongst the best he had ever had which made both Georgia and Jason smile with pride.

They were taught knife skills and also how to prepare a variety of foods such as: salmon paté, Mackerel Paté, stuffed mushrooms, guacamole and salsa as well as a variety of roast vegetables. Levi Roots actually mentioned that the Salmon Paté was amongst the best he had ever had which made both Georgia and Jason smile with pride.

Both Georgia and Jason both graduated and received their Level 2 Food Hygiene certificates and cannot wait to go on the next course and are extremely grateful for opportunity. They had an amazing time and came back fully enthused to use their new-found skills and show and share this new experience.

Thanks Levi, The Prince’s Trust and The Food Academy – Barnet Community Projects are thrilled that they are both involved with the running of our Community Kitchen and are looking forward to tasting their new recipes!

COME AND VISIT US HERE EVERY FRIDAY AND YOU TOO CAN TASTE THEIR AMAZING FOOD.

Community Kitchen Christmas Dinner – Friday 19 December

Come and join us on Friday the 19th December at 1pm for our yearly Christmas Dinner. This is an opportunity not to be missed as we all get together to celebrate this very special time of the year.Donations will be welcome!

Barnet Christmas Fair – Sunday 7 December 2014 from 10am

It’s time for the annual Barnet Christmas Fair again! The whole of the High Street in Barnet will be closed off and there will be a wide variety of stalls to tempt you to complete your last minute Christmas shopping. Barnet Community Projects will be running the Stage where you will hear and see a variety of song and dance to cheer you up and put you in the spirit of Christmas. Coffee and tea will be available and we would love it if you would like to purchase some mince pies for us to offer our visitors. If you are inclined to do so, please deliver these to the Rainbow Centre (Dollis Valley Drive, Barnet, EN5 2UN) before the 7th December. Thank you!

The ‘famous’ salmon mousse (above) and (left) Jason and Georgia together with Levi Roots.

As you know the Community Kitchen provides a three course meal every Friday at 1pm at the Rainbow Centre for anyone popping in at the very reasonable price of £1.00/person. A bargain if ever there was one! So come and meet us to say Hi!