Dear Friend,
As the autumn leaves turn gold and the weather gets colder our thoughts turn to those who have no homes and are sleeping on the streets. In the last three months I am pleased to report that 17 of our guests have gone into accommodation – so they at least will be safe and warm this winter.
Firstly, a big thanks to you and everyone who has been supporting The Vineyard during what has been a challenging year for us all. One good example of how we are supporting those in crisis came a few weeks ago, when a 19 year-old girl visited our morning drop-in session, visibly upset. She had been evicted from her housing, and was very distressed. Thanks to the recent grant we received from The Pret Foundation, our case worker was able to book her into emergency accommodation and apply for new permanent housing. We’re incredibly grateful for the donations -big and small- that we receive. Our case work is such a big part of the work we do at our morning drop-in session, and we simply couldn’t do it without the help of our kind supporters.
September and October have also been key months for Harvest Festival donations. Local schools, churches and other organisations have been incredibly generous with their time and donations this year – you can see some wonderful photos of this below!
As November approaches we are preparing for Christmas and have several great activities lined up. Our Christmas Fair will be held on 2nd December – put it in your diaries! Children will be able to visit Father Christmas while we hold a fashion show and sale in the Vineyard Life Church Hall. All proceeds will go towards our work with the homeless and the Richmond Food Bank. We have just started our Christmas Fundraiser which supports our morning drop-in and Food Bank work, and will also fund events such as the Christmas Dinner for the homeless on 17th December. You can find details of our fundraiser below.
Wishing you all the best for now and the year to come,
Mark Palframan
Chief Executive
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We have just launched our 2021 Christmas Appeal!
The Vineyard Community Centre will continue to provide hot breakfasts, health services, showers and housing support for the homeless and those in crisis in Richmond this Christmas. It is more important than ever that we can guarantee our funding and help those in crisis across the borough.
Any donations received will go towards our services for those most in need.
Thank you and may God bless you this Christmas.
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LATEST NEWS FROM THE VINEYARD COMMUNITY
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Thank you to all of the schools and organisations who donated to the Harvest Festival this year. A special thank you to Big Yellow who have been a tremendous help with storing all of the food and donations we received!
We received 6 tonnes worth of donations in the last six weeks. This helped feed 766 people.
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Kew Green Preparatory School pupils with Harvest donations at St Anne’s Church (top). Below (left) donations at Kew College. Below (right) our Food Bank coordinators Kevin and Bob sort through Harvest donations.
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Vineyard Knitwits
Our ‘knitwits’ knitting group have done some ‘yarn bombing’ in Richmond (right) to raise money for the Richmond Food Bank! They have knitted a collection of fruit, vegetables and people which is sure to brighten up your day. You can donate to their fundraiser here.
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The Vineyard is recognised by The Richmond Society
In October the Vineyard was honoured by The Richmond Society (below), with the award for a distinguished contribution to Richmond The Award recognises our work in this building to help those in crisis across Richmond. We will always remember this special evening, thank you to all involved!
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Vineyard Community comes together for an end of summer BBQ
On 23rd September the staff, partners, volunteers, guests and friends of the Vineyard Community came together for an end of summer BBQ
Thank you so much to everyone who came along and a special thank you to our kind volunteers of RHP (right!) 🥗
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Man with a van!
Thank you to all who donated towards the cost of our new van (pictured right). Having this van means our team is able to support more people in need across the Borough through delivering Food Bank parcels and collecting donations. We are able to do more home deliveries for those particularly vulnerable to Covid-19.
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Supporting Afghan Refugees
Our Works of Love project has been supporting many Afghan refugee women (right) through Refugee Action Kingston (RAK). Our Works of Love group is a place of safety and community for women most in need, providing regular craft and sewing classes. We have been so pleased to welcome a group of ladies who now regularly attend our sewing and craft classes in Dickson House.
If you want to help please visit the Richmond upon Thames Council website where you can register for volunteering activities.
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The Vineyard Community Centre has been shortlisted by Tesco to receive a cash boost from the Tesco Community Grants initiative. Local shoppers are being invited to head along to Tesco stores during October – December to vote for who they think should take away the top grant.
So when you go shopping in any Tesco store nearby Richmond (includes Whitton, Teddington, Barnes, Kew, and Mortlake!), please put your blue token in the Vineyard Community Centre box!
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Partnership with the Poppy Factory
We are delighted to have partnered with the Poppy Factory (left) just up the road from us in Richmond. The Poppy Factory will soon be offering tours for Autumn/Winter, and our Afternoon Café will be a featured food provider. You can book your tour here when they open.
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End of summer fairs
We had a great time at the St Margaret’s Fair and Ham Fairs in September (left). Thank you to everyone who came along to our stands!
We sold a number of items handmade by our Works of Love team.
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The Pink Lady
Sabeen Mansoor died from Covid-19 after spending seven weeks on a ventilator in hospital. To keep her memory alive, her husband Mansoor and son Sameer have created this recipe book, ‘The Pink Lady’, which documents her favourite dishes from around the world.
The Richmond Food Bank will receive 15% of the book’s profits. You can order a copy here and watch the BBC News feature here.
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The Vineyard Community Centre is on the Monopoly board!
The Vineyard Community Centre is one of 3 local charities to make it on to Richmond’s bespoke Monopoly board! Last week, along with our mayor, Mr Monopoly himself (above) presented the honour at the Richmond Hill Hotel. The Vineyard hopes to be selling this special edition soon ahead of Christmas.
Watch this space…and keep out of jail!
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