Kennington Association
Monday 2nd February 2009
Dear Neighbours,
Our Chair puts pen to paper
Happy New Year! Perhaps celebrations were a bit muted for some of you due to the 'credit crunch' - I know some locally who have lost their jobs, others whose positions are far from secure, many who are having to make cut backs and some facing crippling debts. Not such a happy new year from this perspective; however, it doesn't equate that 'economic gloom' equals 'community gloom'. Far from it. It is during the harsher times that belonging to a community, which shares and looks out for one another, becomes a real asset to our lives. Whilst there is always more that we can do to improve our community, there is much that is good and valuable about it. I know there are a huge amount of other exciting groups and activities that work hard to make our area thrive. ‘Hats off’ to all who offer time and energy to make our community far from gloomy.
Ethiopian Millennium Summer Festival in
Thanks to an ‘Awards for All’ grant of £8,085, ACE-UK managed to stage a successful Ethiopian cultural festival on 23rd August 2008 in
Annual General Meeting at The Little Apple PH
We are very grateful to The Little Apple PH for generously hosting our AGM in October. KA members will find a copy of the draft minutes enclosed.
Secret Santa
Great news: with generous donations from His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales Duke of Cornwall, and The Dog House PH, towards Secret Santa we were able to build on the Art Auction funds and deliver a cheque for £1,650 to
Welcome Pack
The Kennington Welcome pack has come on in leaps and bounds since last year. Submissions were eventually received on almost all suggested topics; however, the task of editing all of the information so that it is consistent and will fit into one pack is large, and has stalled slightly. Consequently, about half of the Welcome Pack has now been placed online by James Hatts (who runs the London SE1 website) so that it can be viewed by members of the Kennington Association, and the other half is due to appear soon. Once all of the material is up on the website, we hope to be in a better position to decide how to proceed with printing the material. Some fantastic photos were also provided in 2008, and these should appear in the printed version. The URL for the website to view the first few submissions is here: http://www.welcometokennington.org.uk/
Bazaar – Saturday 21st February
The total raised in November’s bazaar was nearly £700 after expenses. A marvellous result and we thank so much the entire Bazaar Team for their very hard work. Special mention must go to Gisella who, with her unflagging energy and attention to detail in the background, pulled together the best team ever! Our next bazaar will be held on Saturday, 21st February. Until we are sure that Sinan’s van will be available to us, we’d be very grateful to hear from anyone else who might be able to offer us a back-up van. The Pelican Nursery that occupies the hall during the day is now open until 6pm on Friday evenings, so we are not able to accept deliveries or begin setting up until after this time. Along with KA membership fees, bazaar proceeds are crucial to our cash flow so we do hope you will make the most of this opportunity for a clear out and the chance to grab a few bargains!
‘Tree of Hope’ on Kennington Cross
Thanks to community fund-raising efforts and a grant from the Princes Ward purse the lights have now arrived and will be installed over the next month with a view to having a switching on ceremony at Easter time. These LED lights, which use very little energy, are envisaged by many to be a symbol of hope particularly in response to some recent tragic events.
Kennington Village Fete – Sunday 7th June 2009
The fourth Village Fete will take place in
Annual Autumn Art Auction at City & Guilds Art School – Thursday 17th September
Last year’s Auction raised over £2,600 (less expenses), which enabled us to donate £500 to the Art School bursary fund and set aside funds for a banner to be designed by a student and hung on the railings outside the school for this year’s Auction. The rest of the profit raised went directly to our Secret Santa scheme as usual. We are very grateful to the community and artists for contributing works, to Red Devil Self Storage for housing the artwork, and for pledges and promises from local businesses including Rimmington Vian, Kennington Tandoori, William Rose (formerly Hester’s) butchers, The Dog House PH, Marsh Ruby, Amici Kennington, Franklins, Morphic Design, Pop-In Hair & Beauty, The Cut Hair & Beauty, Tai Chi UK and Tomorrow’s People. This year’s Auction will again take place at City & Guilds Art School on Thursday, 17 September 2009 with viewing the evening before.
Hade Lbi Eritrean Cultural Group in Kennington
Hade Lbi Eritrean Community Association would like to inform the KA membership that we have decided to freeze for the moment our association with KA. We have been operating for the last 4 and a half years teaching local Eritrean children their language and culture. We have achieved greatly in our objectives with our young people; however, since September, due to many parents leaving the borough for reasons of children's schooling, the participation of parents has slowed down. We had been offered, in principle, funds from Capital Community Foundation’s Grassroots Fund. But, as we could not sustain some of our major activities, we have decided to turn down the funds until we restructure our association and recruit some more parents and volunteers to resume, in an effective way, our core work. Until then we would like to thank, from the depth of our hearts, the Kennington Association, and in particular the KA Committee members for all the support they have given us.
Sports & Fitness ProjectS
Volleyball
The Ecuadorian volleyball games (i.e. three-a-side) go from strength to strength. The group has been invited to contribute players for a
Tai Chi
Thursday, 2 - 3 pm –
Great news! A successful grant application to the 'Grassroots' fund (administered by Capital Community Foundation) has secured funding for the Thursday Tai Chi classes for another two years. The classes are currently taking place in the Kennington Park Community Centre,
Saturday, 11am - 12pm - Brit Oval Cricket Ground
Thanks go to Surrey County Cricket Club and Steven Blackwood, Community Executive, for agreeing to fund another 40 Tai Chi classes in 2009 at the Brit Oval. Classes take place at the new earlier time of 11 am -12 pm in the Lambeth Hall, which is part of the new OCS stand at the Vauxhall end of the Oval ground (enter by the Alec Stewart Gate). On match days, the class will move to
KA and Local Planning Matters
Beefeater Gin
In August, Desmond Payne of Beefeater Gin distillery on
The KA attended the October Inquiry into the building of a hotel etc. where our statement of support was presented. Items of concern raised at the Inquiry were public safety due to the neighbouring gas works; and the impact of the proposed hotel on the neighbourhood. A copy of the Appointed Inspector's report was to be sent to the KA in the New Year.
Both of these proposals are to convert a redundant office building into primarily high-rise residential buildings. The KA met with both sets of developers and is not supporting either of these projects, as they do not meet the housing requirements for the locality.
We have been alerted by residents of
Vauxhall Supplementary Planning Document
KA is examining Lambeth's proposal for "A New Heart for Vauxhall", officially known as the Vauxhall Supplementary Planning Document. We are in dialogue with Lambeth regarding this proposal for redevelopment of Vauxhall.
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