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Kennington Association Newsletter December 2004

from Cathy (KenningtonAssn@aol.com)

Kennington Association

Chairperson: Angus Aagaard

C/- 235B Kennington Lane
London SE11 5QU
E: KenningtonAssn@aol.com

Wednesday, 15 December 2004

Dear Neighbours

1. Bazaar & Winter Draw

Another great success! No thanks to me! I injured my foot on the Friday night before the Bazaar so Kay took over the helm and the Team mucked in and all went off smoothly as usual. They raised over £730, which was quite amazing as there were so many Christmas fairs and other events competing on the same day. To quote Angus, our Chairperson, “Community events, such as our Bazaars, are always only as good as the time and effort that local volunteers put in to make it happen - it’s no surprise then to know that our Bazaars are one of the best around. You did a great job - Thanks!”

2. Postal Matters

The meeting with our London Assembly Member, Val Shawcross, and the manager at our local sorting office in Crampton Street in October was well attended. We met with Martine Munby (Senior External Relations Manager, London, South East and East of England martine.munby@royalmail.com), Claire Catchpole (Business Manager) and Brian Chapman (Delivery Office Manager).

The postcodes of those Kennington residents present were noted and questionnaires were sent out to random households in all the delivery walks in Kennington by the South London Quality Team at Royal Mail's Nine Elms Lane office. This was organised by Claire who asks that if residents have an opinion or complaint, please do contact the Customer Service Centre who are there to help. (08457 740 740 Royal Mail Customer Services, FREEPOST, RM1 1AA)

Some of us have been in direct contact with Brian (brian.e.chapman@royalmail.co.uk 020 7703 0007) about delivery matters. He is happy for the residents to contact him directly, but points out that he is only responsible for deliveries, so he will have to pass on to the relevant manager any other issues such as collections and wait for them to reply. Brian has also been going out with some of the delivery officers to see if there is anything he can do to assist them with their deliveries, and he hopes that this will have an impact on the level of service provided.

Martine has organised a follow-up review meeting at 1.30pm on Friday, 28th January, at which we will also be joined by Melanie Corfield, Head of External Relations, London & South East for Royal Mail. Please be in touch if you would like to attend this meeting.

3. The Kennington Association Art Auction at Pizza Express

The KA Art Auction at Pizza Express in November raised over £3,000!!! There were calls for us to do it again. In all, the Community generously donated over 80 high quality works of art and Pizza Express generously hosted the event at no charge, even providing canapés, and their staff were all so helpful.

4. New Community Initiatives

As you know, the Association will use all the proceeds from the Art Auction for the local community. We have been considering some ideas put to us and have already decided on a couple:

· Older Persons’ Tea & Coffee Afternoons at The Durning Library

This group, organised by Lambeth Libraries, meets on the third Wednesday every month and has discussed some ideas of the types of things they would like to be able to do. Top of the ‘wish list’ seems to be a coach trip to Southend-on-Sea! They would also like to have some more quadrille dancing sessions. The KA committee decided to donate £500 to enable them to make these and/or other arrangements as they would like.

If you would like to know more about this group’s afternoons and activities, please contact Audrey at the Durning Library on 020 7926 8682.

· Tai Chi comes to Kennington!

We have been asked if it might be possible to organise Tai Chi classes, in particular geared towards the Over Fifties in our community.

We contacted Michael Jacques, Chief Instructor and Master of Tai Chi UK, http://www.taichiuk.co.uk/, and he has agreed to hold an initial 12 weeks of Tai Chi classes for us. The Kennington Association committee agreed to cover his fees of £600 and then we looked around for a local venue.

We learned that the Kurdish Cultural Centre at 14 Stannary Street SE11 was available at the time that suited Michael and when Lady Margaret Hall Settlement offered to cover the rent there, we were able to confirm that classes will begin at 2pm on Thursday, 13th January for twelve weeks. This will enable us to find out how great the demand is, and if they are popular we can look towards extending the sessions later into the year.

All are welcome, especially the Over Fifties for whom Michael already runs several classes around London. To enrol telephone 020 7793 0268 or email KenningtonAssn@aol.com.

We are also looking at how to help some local Schools develop upon the Music provision they offer. We are learning that it is an area that receives insufficient funding.

Meanwhile, we wish all our members a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

With best regards
Cathy Preece
Membership Secretary

(posted 7041 days ago)

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