Legacy
Almost exactly a year ago, on April 4th 2012, North London Cares hosted our very first Social Club, a screening of "The King's Speech" at the Resource Centre on Holloway Road. Tonight, we're hosting our 100th such gathering, a Storytelling event off the Cally Road for potentially isolated older people to get together and share time and friendship with their younger neighbours.
We were so sorry to hear the very sad news this week about the death of our friend and big North London Cares supporter, Fran.
Chiswell Street is in the heart of the City of London. It runs from Bloomberg's head office in Finsbury Square to the Barbican, one of the most famous and vibrant cultural hubs in the world. On both sides of the street, there are the gleaming glass structures, international coffee chains, iconic eateries and buzzing businesspeople that make London the professional services capital of the world. Chiswell Street, at any time of the day or night, is an exciting place to be.
Two – maybe three – flimsy taps with the knocker. Then a pause, an experiment with the bell, and a brief consultation with the clipboard to check you’re at the right address. Then a final, token knock and – just as you’re about to turn away – a figure growing slowly larger behind frosted glass. The door creaks open.
Between November 2012 and March 2013, North London Cares and our volunteers spoke to nearly 500 people over the age of 65 in south Islington -- on doorsteps, in community centres, by mail and in focus groups -- to learn about people's views about and behaviour during extreme weather, in partnership with Islington Council and funded by The Department for the Environment, Foor and Rural Affairs. Read the detailed results, analysis, conclusions and recommendations from those conversations in the full report.
At North London Cares, we are always looking for different ways to bring members of our community together and we’re really excited to announce some new activities that will be coming up soon…
For the past few motnhs, North London Cares has been working on an ambitious project in partnership with Islington Council, supported by the Department for Health and the London Community Foundation, to help keep our older neighbours warm, healthy, connected and active during these bitterly cold months.
NLC recruits volunteers from all over north London and all over the world to participate in their community. And sometimes their interactions offer more connection than they might think. Here, Chinese student and new NLC participant Xi Zhang gives us a window onto why she wanted to get involved, and the similarities to her experiences volunteering thousands of miles away...
For all time, music has had that power to bring people together, to connect and to inspire. That's why we held a special social event this week called "The Mixtape" in King's Cross...
This week, one of our regulars became a TV superstar -- and an internet sensation! -- when she appeared on the BBC's One Show to talk about North London Cares' Film Nights.