Community Christmas Events
Family Christmas Lunch at Battersea Arts Centre
Battersea Arts Centre will be hosting a Christmas lunch on Christmas Day. There are 10 seats available for parents and children through Be Enriched, so please email hello@be-enriched.org to book a place!
Battersea Park Rotary Club Christmas Lunch
Rotary Club of Battersea Park has been organising a community Christmas Lunch for over-65s on Christmas Day since 1962. This years event will take place on the 25th December from 10am–4pm in Evolution Hall, Battersea Park.
The Graveney Canteen Christmas Lunch
The Graveney Canteen Christmas lunch will be running on Friday 20th December from 12.00-3.30pm at Tooting URC, Rookstone Road in Tooting.
The Battersea Canteen Christmas Dinner
The team at The Battersea Canteen will be cooking up a festive feast for the community on Tuesday 17th December from 6.30pm at the London Cooking Project, 1 Ethelburga Street in Battersea.
Visit the events section of our website for full Christmas events listings. If you are involved with or know of a community Christmas event that you would like to have included on our calendar, please get in touch!
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News from the community...
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Saving Surplus Food with The Felix Project
The Felix project is a charity that rescues surplus food and shares this with community kitchens and foodbanks feeding vulnerable people in London. They are constantly working to connect the dots between the amazing organisations and charities that feed folk across London, and to identify the need for nutritionally balanced ingredients on an ongoing basis. If you are a food agency or charity providing free meals to the community and would like to join the Felix Project's network to receive surplus food, either now or in the future, you can register your interest by completing this survey.
With considerable amounts of surplus food anticipated this festive period, the Felix Project aim to deliver enough food for 100,000 Christmas meals across the capital, and they are in need of volunteers to help achieve this.
Volunteering shifts will be available in 4 hour slots between the 21st and 24th of December, and roles include van drivers and co-drivers, cycling and walking deliveries, and warehouse assistants. Visit the Felix Project volunteering page for more information and to sign up to volunteer.
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Celebrating the success of Share students
In November, Share Community held their annual awards ceremony at the Wandsworth Civic Suite to celebrate the success of their students. Share Community provide vocational training and employment support for disabled people to help them achieve their dreams. They also run the Share Community Garden and Nurseries in the grounds of Springfield University Hospital in Tooting, where they provide horticultural training – last month they celebrated 5 of their students achieving their Level 2 in Horticultural Skills!
As part of their training, Share students cultivate plants and vegetables which are available to buy from the garden year round. During December the team will be selling a range of winter flowering plants as well as Christmas trees, wreaths and even table decorations, along with seasonal vegetables.
Share Nurseries are always happy to welcome volunteers to help out with their projects, either on a regular basis or for occasional corporate volunteering. They are also always on the lookout for local organisations and businesses who are able to offer work placements for their students to help them continue to thrive in the local community.
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Healthy Green Beans project by The Baked Bean Charity
Healthy Green Beans is a bespoke healthy lifestyle course designed and targeted towards learner's with learning disabilities, complex needs and autism/Asperger's, with a focus on education around green issues and recycling. The 20-week programme, which has been recommended for Wandsworth Grant Funding, builds on a course delivered last year, with a focus on food preparation based around healthy eating on a budget. The programme will include the development of basic literacy through the creation of healthy recipes, a food diary and weekly budget, trips out shopping, to a recycling centre and Hewitts Farm will all encourage team work and social inclusion.
For more information contact the team on 02089440024.
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Sharing Futures: The Future of Food Sharing Governance 
By sharing their wide-ranging experience and expertise, the participants came up with many fantastic and innovative ideas for the future, such as creating an umbrella lobby group for grassroots food sharing, developing academic metrics to evaluate social and ecological benefits, and highlighting stories of successful initiatives.
The workshop focused on three distinct sectors of the urban food sharing system – Growing, Cooking & Eating, and Redistributing – to identify key challenges and brainstorm solutions. Issues which recurred across the discussions included an under-appreciation of the social benefits of food sharing activities, a lack of common language for discussing food sharing, and the prioritisation of commercial interests in policy-making.
The SHARECITY Research Team recently published a summary report of their Sharing Futures workshop hosted at Trinity College Dublin in September. This collaborative project brought together academics, policy-makers, and practitioners from a range of urban food sharing backgrounds to address the challenges faced in their work.
Click here to read the full summary report, and check out the SHARECITY website for more information.
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State of Hunger Report by the Trussell Trust
In November, the Trussell Trust released the findings from their investigation into poverty and food insecurity in the UK. The headline figure from the report is the startling 73% increase in emergency food parcels provided by Trussell Trust food banks over the last five years.
Similar research by our partner the Wandsworth Foodbank reveals that they provided a record 5,770 three-day emergency food supplies to service users in the borough during April 2018-March 2019, an 11% increase on the previous year.
These unsettling figures show that food poverty is on the rise in the UK, with more and more families struggling to put food on the table. In the face of growing insecurity, it's more important than ever to continue striving for a sustainable, healthy, and equitable food system for all.
Click here for a summary of the State of Hunger Report.
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School Food Matters General Election Report Card
In the run up to the 2019 General Election, School Food Matters have published a manifesto detailing the 5 areas which they believe should be the focus of any future reform of school meals policy, as well as an outline of the school food policies of the main political parties. You can use their handy General Election Report Card resource to compare the school food policies of each party and see what their priorities are for promoting health and wellbeing in schools.
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The Chefs' Manifesto by SDG2 Advocacy Hub
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Naked Larder Pilot Franchise Opportunity
 From their home in Herne Hill, the Naked Larder have been offering an alternative, packaging-free way to shop for dry foods and household products since January 2018. They stock a wide range of healthy and sustainable food options, which customers are able to order online, then collect on-site using their own reusable containers. This low-cost business model aims to provide an alternative to supermarket shopping which strikes a balance between price-competitiveness, sustainability and convenience.
Now a well established community business following two years of successful trading, the team behind Naked Larder are looking to expand by offering franchising opportunities to other community-minded people interested in fighting packaging waste. They are seeking someone who can spare 40 to 60 hours per month, an initial investment; and with access to delivery, storage and collection spaces.
Could the next Naked Larder be in Wandsworth? We think a community-driven, ethically run food business like this would be a fantastic addition to the local food economy!
To find out more about the Naked Larder and get in touch about this opportunity, check out their website.
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