WRCF News and Events: January 2019 Edition

Coming soon to Manley Park…

STOP PRESS: CHANGE OF DATE FOR CELEBRATE FESTIVAL!!!!

We’ve had to reschedule Celebrate to Saturday 15th June!

More info to follow!

https://www.whalleyrange.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Newsletter-Winter-18-19.pdf

 

Read the latest issue of our Whalley Range News & Events – featuring local news, activities and reports

Click the link below:

Generate our Kitchen: proposed health & wellbeing centre at JNR8

We now have a fabulous shiny new community kitchen for our existing groups – and to start up some exciting new ones!

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/hungryJNR8/videos/447197002738525/

https://www.facebook.com/hungryJNR8/videos/614239952395107/

https://www.facebook.com/hungryJNR8/videos/355136871857307/

 

 

 

 

How it all began…

The work has begun at JNR8…

Many thanks to Mick for organising the work from the ISG construction company who have been supporting our project.

The team have knocked down the redundant chimney above the kitchen so that the work can commence…wet rot caused a few problems – but moving forward we are working with local building teams to get on with the work!

 

Many thanks to the team from Hyde Demolition who removed the chimney

Crescent Roofing who have patched up the roof ready for the next stage

Timberwise – roofing experts who came along to check out the roof for any issues

Watch this space for updates!


 https://www.facebook.com/hungryJNR8/

We are well on our way to realising our dream for our community kitchen!

We have now secured grants for a new energy efficient boiler from the Manchester City Council’s Neighbourhood Investment Fund…

and a new commercial cooker thanks to a grant from the Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund! 

Image result for Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund logo

 

We have received a fantastic donation of ‘pre-loved’ stainless steel kitchen equipment and an offer to carry out some of our building work – from ISG – a dynamic construction company currently working in schools across Greater Manchester…

 

 Image result for duke of edinburgh's award logo

The Whiz project young people who are working towards their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award have recorded interviews with building users to find out their thoughts about the current facilities and the benefits of a new kitchen.

Listen to some of the interviews here:



Please Help!

We are struggling to feed and support our hungry community.
Our kitchen is a shambles and weve had to suspend lots of our vital cooking activities!

Food has always been a very important aspect of our work in terms of bringing people together, cook and eat: we have produced cookery guides and recipe books: our under 12 cookery class appeared on Ready Steady Cook!

We love Whalley Range and talked to residents about what they want – and this is what they said:

Cookery lessons, Meal budgeting advice, Catering courses, Cook & Taste sessions, Community Meals
Healthy meal ideas, Cheap nutritious meal plans, Heritage & ESOL food courses, Intergenerational cooking
Learning about vitamins & food sources, Healthy nutritious meals for one, Family cooking sessions,

With a fully accessible professional kitchen we know we could meet these priorities – and more!

Since 1998 we have been based at the JNR8 Youth & Community Centre – the leased community rooms of
Manley Park Church – providing a range of inclusive projects for our richly diverse community.

There are 2 main charitable organisations based here.
Whalley Range Community Forum (WRCF) sources funding and facilitates daytime activities for the community and a weekly social and cooking group for people experiencing mental ill health.
Whalley Range Youth Opportunities Association (WRYOA) runs an evening Youth Club and holiday play schemes.

The Church has made major improvements over the past years: a new hall floor, energy efficient boiler and new double glazed windows and doors. WRCF has sourced funding for furniture, laptops and storage for the many groups who provide activities/classes.
We have decided to all come together to fundraise for a new professional, accessible kitchen to improve health & wellbeing. We named our project: Generate our Kitchen – as our building – JNR8 – is pronounced Generate!

With one part-time member of staff and a voluntary committee for WRCF and WRYOA – along with fantastic teams of volunteers and sessional youth workers – we are the only local centre serving the community with activities for all ages and cultures, providing crisis support and celebrating the area by bringing people together to improve mental and physical health and wellbeing and raising aspirations.

Based on consultations at our events we aim to:

Help reduce isolation by providing social groups,
Encourage people to engage with others: Coffee mornings, Afternoon Tea, Support groups
Improve employability and confidence/self-esteem building
Provide ESOL support with English speaking and writing
Provide basic and improvers computer skills with internet access
Run Work clubs and Computer classes
Provide Youth provision and Play schemes including Duke of Edinburgh Award, Girls Night
Promote Healthy eating Health & Wellbeing and Fitness classes
Reduce the stigma around mental ill health
Provide crisis support including Hate Crime reporting centre and Foodbank voucher distribution
Thai Boxing
Tai Chi
Women Health
Age-friendly
Child Friendly
Hate Crime Awareness and International Women Day events
Debates
Book and film launches
Babies & toddlers groups
Meetings
Advice sessions

Something for the youngest to the oldest, the Celebrate festival at our community centre – along with a wide range of other activities for everyone of all ages in our richly diverse community!

We love living in Whalley Range and as a Community Forum we have talked to residents about what they want!

  • Cookery lessons
  • Meal budgeting advice
  • Catering courses
  • Cook & Taste sessions
  • Community Meals
  • Healthy meal ideas
  • Cheap nutritious meal plans
  • Heritage food courses
  • Intergenerational cooking
  • Learning about vitamins & food sources
  • Healthy nutritious meals for one
  • Family cooking sessions
  • A fully accessible professional kitchen
  • Practical ESOL cookery sessions
  • Production of a tried & tested cook book
    And much more!

The JNR8 Youth & Community Centre is the base for the Whalley Range Community Forum, Whalley Range Youth Opportunities Association Whiz Youth Project, Celebrate, Age-friendly Whalley Range & Chorlton and Whalley Range Mental Health & Wellbeing.
We lease the building from Manley Park Methodist Church from Monday to Friday providing a range of classes, events and activities including an evening week-day youth club and holiday play for children.

On Friday evenings the volunteer-led wellbeing group Time to Change meet up offering support and removing the stigma around mental ill health by running a social group with pool, music, Tai Chi, bike repairs and to prepare, cook and eat a meal together.

The Church provides regular fundraising coffee mornings and soup lunches for the community and they let the building out on Saturday evenings to Youth on Solid Ground for their weekly youth club.
Our groups love to cook and want to promote and share cooking and eating together to reduce isolation, improve skills and employability and to improve their health.
We could provide so much more if our currently inadequate and practically unusable kitchen was updated and fit for purpose!
Representatives of the groups who share the building are applying for funding under the banner

Generate our Kitchen

Please could you help us by completing our survey to support our request for funding?

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/5P3BN82

The survey is anonymous but you can add your details if you are interested in getting involved.
Visit the Age-friendly and well-being marquee to read more and to collect a hard copy of the survey.

 Thanks for your support! 

 

Email us at generateourkitchen@gmail.com to get involved


Generate our Kitchen – All about us!

 

The JNR8 (pronounced ‘Generate) Youth & Community Centre is the weekly base for the Whalley Range Community Forum, Whalley Range Youth Opportunities Association (WRYOA) Whiz Youth Project, Celebrate, Age-friendly Whalley Range & Chorlton and Whalley Range Mental Health & Wellbeing.

The JNR8 centre is a fantastic community resource – and we run a wide range of activities during the week for all ages, including ESOL, fitness, confidence building and social and self-help groups for people to come together to reduce isolation/encourage participation and friendships.

Cookery has always been a big part of our community engagement at JNR8 (our under 12 group even featured on Ready Steady Cook!) and we have a long history of providing community meals and food projects including the Food 4 Us cookery toolkit, Heritage cookery projects and intergenerational recipe sharing.

We are currently fundraising to improve our kitchen – as many of our cookery and nutrition classes have had to be put on hold as the kitchen is not fit for purpose.

Please find the link to our short survey here: 

Our exciting plan is to access funding to turn our current inadequate facilities into a professional kitchen so we can resume all the regular classes – and provide so much more!

We run a work club under the banner Generating Opportunities: a professional kitchen will enable us to provide catering, cooking and nutrition classes to improve skills and employability and projects that use cookery to improve English

In addition we want to resume our shared community meals – such as the successful Come 4 Tea, Festive Feasts and share recipes from around the world.

The Building is lovely – fantastic multi-use hall, storage for our projects, a chill out room, an IT room for computer beginners and improvers, a classroom for learning, teaching, presenting, planning and meeting.

Now look at our existing kitchen…

And look at some of the fantastic projects that go on here:

 

Imagine what we will all be able to do when we – 

Generate our Kitchen!

Please find the link to our short survey here: 
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/5P3BN82

Generate our Kitchen JustGiving Page: www.justgiving.com

Universal Credit: Important news from Alex Park Jobcentre (in English, Arabic and Farsi)

October  2017

Image result for universal credit logo manchester Image result for Jobcentre logo manchester

** IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR CUSTOMERS **

During the next few weeks you may notice a few changes within your Jobcentre

These changes may include temporary changes to your work coach, the layout of the jobcentre and you being asked a few more questions when you attend about your digital skills.

*******

All of these things are to prepare for

Wednesday 25th October 2017

when we will become a UNIVERSAL CREDIT FULL SERVICE Jobcentre.

********

**** PLEASE READ ****

The way the Department of Work & Pensions delivers its services to claimants has been gradually changing as part of the Government Welfare to Work programme.

As part of those changes all our customers will need to make sure they can access the new online Digital Service to complete their claims online and notify of us of changes to their circumstances.

You will be notified by letter of when the changes will affect you.

If you are familiar with using digital online services, i.e. you have an up to date email account which you use regularly, shop or bank online then you will have no problem following the changes to claiming or contacting the Jobcentre via the new online service.

IF YOU ARE NOT CONFIDENT WITH ANY OF THE ABOVE THEN YOU WILL NEED TO CONTACT YOUR WORK COACH AND ASK FOR HELP ON WHAT TO DO NEXT.

 FAILURE TO DO SO COULD RESULT IN YOU HAVING DIFFCULTY IN CLAIMING OR ACCESSING YOUR BENEFITS.

You will have an online Universal Credit account to manage your claim. You can use your account to report changes, send messages to your work coach and find support.

Eventually all claims will be on the full service and you will have a Universal Credit online account.

 

The Team

Alex Park Jobcentre


 

                    **                       ** معلومات هامة للعملاء
خلال الأسابيع القليلة المقبلة قد تلاحظ بعض التغييرات داخل مركز العمل الخاص بك.
قد تشمل هذه التغييرات تغييرات مؤقتة على مدرب العمل الخاص بك، وتخطيط مركز.

العمل وكنت يطلب بعض الأسئلة أكثر عند حضور حول المهارات الرقمية الخاصة بك.
*******

 

كل هذه الأمور هي للتحضير
الأربعاء 25 أكتوبر  2017
عندما سنصبح مركز كريديت كامل خدمة مركز العمل.
    *******

                       ****** ارجوك اقرأ *******                     

والطريقة التي تقدم بها إدارة العمل والمعاشات خدماتها للمطالبين تتغير تدريجيا كجزء من برنامج الرعاية الاجتماعية للعمل.
وكجزء من هذه التغييرات، سيتعين على جميع عملائنا التأكد من إمكانية وصولهم إلى الخدمة الرقمية الجديدة عبر الإنترنت لاستكمال مطالباتهم عبر الإنترنت وإخطارنا بالتغييرات التي تطرأ على ظروفهم.

سيتم إعلامك بكتاب عندما التغييرات سوف تؤثر عليك.
إذا كنت معتادا على استخدام الخدمات الرقمية عبر الإنترنت، بمعنى أن لديك حساب بريد إلكتروني محدث تستخدمه بشكل منتظم أو تسوقه أو تتعامل معه عبر الإنترنت، فلن تواجهك أية مشكلة بعد إجراء تغييرات على المطالبة أو الاتصال بمركز العمل عبر الخدمة الجديدة عبر الإنترنت.

 

إذا لم تكن متأكدا من أي مما سبق سوف تحتاج إلى الاتصال بك العمل كوتش وطلب المساعدة على ما يجب القيام به المقبل.
الفشل في القيام بذلك قد يؤدي إلى أن يكون لديك صعوبة في المطالبة أو الوصول إلى المنافع الخاصة بك.

سيكون لديك حساب ائتمان عالمي عبر الإنترنت لإدارة مطالبتك.
يمكنك استخدام حسابك للإبلاغ عن التغييرات، وإرسال رسائل إلى مدرب العمل الخاص بك.

والعثور على الدعم في نهاية المطاف جميع المطالبات ستكون على الخدمة الكاملة وسيكون لديك حساب الائتمان العالمي على الانترنت.

 

الفريق

أليكس بارك مركز العمل


                    **                      **اطلاعات مهم مشتریاند

چند هفته آینده ممکن است چندین تغییر در مرکز شغلی شما مشاهده شود.این تغییرات ممکن است شامل تغییرات موقتی به مربی کار شما، طرح مرکز کار و همچنین سوالاتی باشد که شما در مورد مهارت های دیجیتالی خود به آنها مشغول هستید.

*******                                        

     Ù‡Ù…Ù‡ اینها برای آماده شدن آماده

استچهارشنبه 25 اکتبر 2017

هنگامی که ما تبدیل به یک مرکز خدمات کامل خدمات اعتباری UNIVERSAL می شود.

*******

لطفا *************

راهکارهایی که وزارت کار و حقوق بازنشستگی آن را ارائه می دهد، خدمات به متقاضیان است به تدریج به عنوان بخشی از برنامه رفاهی دولت برای کار در حال تغییر است.

به عنوان بخشی از این تغییرات، مشتریان ما باید اطمینان حاصل کنند که می توانند به سرویس جدید دیجیتال آنلاین دسترسی داشته باشند تا ادعاهای خود را به صورت آنلاین تکمیل کنند و از تغییرات در شرایط آنها مطلع شوند.

 

شما از طریق نامه اعلام می کنید که تغییرات.

شما را تحت تاثیر قرار دهداگر با استفاده از سرویس های آنلاین دیجیتال آشنا هستید، به عنوان مثال شما دارای حساب ایمیل روزانه خود هستید که به طور منظم، فروشگاه یا

 

بانک آنلاین را استفاده می کنید و پس از تغییرات به ادعای یا تماس با مرکز شغلی از طریق.

 

اگر شما با هیچ کدام از موارد فوق موافق نباشید، باید با شما تماس بگیرید و درخواست کنید که چه کاری انجام دهید.

ناکامی در انجام چنین کاری ناشی از عدم وجود مزایا و مزایای شما است.

برای اداره ادعای شما یک حساب اعتباری آنلاین جهانی خواهید داشت.شما می توانید از حساب خود برای گزارش تغییرات، ارسال پیام به مربی کار خود و پیدا کردن پشتیبانی استفاده کنید.

در نهایت تمام ادعاها در سرویس کامل خواهند بود و شما یک اعتبار آنلاین اعتباری جهانی خواهید داشت.

 

تیممرکز

 

تجارت الکس پارک

 

Lots of Volunteering Opportunities in Greater Manchester!

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Volunteer Centre Manchester provides information, support and training to Manchester residents who want to volunteer.

We also support Manchester based organisations who want to recruit volunteers, need help and advice to develop new roles, introduce/update policies and procedures or have a training need.

If you are under 18 please click here for more information on volunteering options which are available to you

Volunteering and Benefits – If you are receiving state benefits you are still allowed to volunteer. This guidance gives an overview of what you need to know before you start volunteering.

Click here to contact us

https://www.manchestercommunitycentral.org/volunteer-centre-manchester/i-want-volunteer

Get in touchTelephone: 0161 830 4770Freepost NAT4553, Manchester, M60 3BR
Email:
info@volunteercentremanchester.co.uk
Web:
http://www.volunteercentremanchester.co.uk

LIVE WELL MAKE ART – GM bid to Great Places

LIVE WELL MAKE ART GM bid to Great Places
Great Places is an Arts Council England initiative which aims to pilot new approaches that enable cultural, community and civic organisations to work more closely together. The Greater Manchester Joint Authority has been short-listed for inclusion in the initiative and is in the process of submitting a bid, which includes building on arts and health work in the city region, paying attention to the principles of arts and health as a social movement. The successful pilot areas are likely to be announced in March 2017.
An important aim in GM bid is to make stronger connections between the arts sector (voluntary and professional arts, and cultural venues), the health sector and people living and working in Greater Manchester. At the end of the Great Places initiative, the intention is that arts activity would be a core element of health planning across GM for the future

Read more: Live Well Make Art newsletter (1)


find-outu-more-copy

 

https://100momentsuk.wordpress.com/


Image result for live well make art

https://www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/rsa-blogs/2016/08/live-well-make-art


Image result for live well make art

Image result for live well make art

 

Whalley Range on Wheels shares Cycling UK Best Community Project award!

whalley_range_on_wheels_and_onna_bike_with_caroline_russell

Community cycling groups Onna high after sharing award!

The quality of entries for our Best Community Project award was so high that it ended up being shared between two extremely worthy and hard-working groups – Whalley Range on Wheels and Onna Bike. Both are Cycling UK Community Clubs, both have been heavily involved in our Big Bike Revival – and both have been helping people to cycle, with fantastic benefits to their respective communities.

Whalley Range on Wheels

Whalley Range on Wheels comprises a band of committed volunteers who have worked tirelessly over the last 18 months to make Alexandra Park in South Manchester a real hive of cycling activity.

Project co-ordinator Eve Holt has made it possible for hundreds of people to get on their bikes, with regular activities and events for the whole family, including adults learning to ride for the first time, improver sessions for rusty returners, road training, bike maintenance workshops and social rides.

Cycling UK Trustee Welna Bowden, Chair of the Awards Committee, said: “People attend the sessions come rain or shine and the atmosphere is always positive and welcoming.

“A small group of volunteer mechanics has helped bring donated bikes back to life so that some participants now have their own bike.

“The project has grown through word of mouth and with there being a physical presence in the park. It an excellent example of fluid working across organisations with volunteers working alongside Transport for Greater Manchester and Manchester Parks services.

“Whalley Range on Wheels is exactly the sort of project that can make a real difference.”

Project co-ordinator Eve said: “The appetite from local people has been wonderful.  People of all ages and backgrounds come to the sessions and both participants and volunteers alike talk about the impact it has on their wellbeing and lives.

“Thanks to the Big Bike Revival, we have been able to revive 40 second-hand bikes over the summer, some from out of skips, and give them to Manchester asylum seekers who have been attending our regular Monday sessions so they can #ridefree.

“We are all looking forward to a celebratory ride along the Fallowfield loop on 17 October followed by a Spooky kidicalmass ride for families on 30 October. Happy bikes make for happy people and a happy planet.”

Onna Bike

Onna Bike offers free weekly sessions for the local community in Bradford, with the aim of teaching people to ride and improve skills. The club has developed strong links with Belle Vue Girls School and facilitated a project which has resulted in 180 girls undertaking cycle training and reaching Bikeability Levels 1 and 2.

The project enabled 90 girls – at two events – to participate in cycling activities which included Bikeability training, bike maintenance, making smoothies (using a bike to power the motor) and also having a go on cycling rollers provided by the Cycling UK-affiliated Otley Cycle Club.

The project was made possible through funding from Cycling UK, the support of WYCA City Connect and collaboration with a number of organisations, including Zara Sports Centre and Bradford Council Bikeability Scheme co-ordinated by Aubrey Cooper.

Welna said: “The pilot was hugely successful, creating a buzz of excitement and resulting in the project being rolled out across all the remaining 800-plus students at the school.

“Onna Bike also established links with OnTrak, receiving 20 refurbished bikes, and was able to donate the bikes at no cost to the girls attending the cycling project.

“That was particularly important given that a vast number of students are unable to buy or access a bike, as they live in a socially deprived area where finances are strained.

“Although the club is in its infancy, it has made a promising start to what should be an amazing journey of discovery and adventure.”

Onna Bike, founded by Mumtaz Khan, runs weekly cycling sessions with fellow cycling coach Andrew Gray, at Zara Sports Centre, next to Belle Vue Girls School, on Saturdays from 6.00-7.15pm, followed by a ride for more confident cyclists.

Mumtaz said: “Cycling is becoming very popular in Bradford and for people just starting out, or for those who enjoy cycling at a more leisurely pace, mainstream cycling clubs can seem quite daunting. Onna Bike offers an alternative which appeals to novice and intermediate riders.”

The Belle Vue girls also attended an informative and humorous presentation by round-the-world cyclist Reece Gledhill. They were then given the task of developing their own expedition, focusing on the countries that they would like to visit – with Dubai, Jamaica, Japan and Australia coming out as hot favourites.

Samantha Crabtree, a member of the Belle Vue Girls School staff, commented: “All of our Year 10 girls have now completed the Level 1 Bikeability Award and the majority the Level 2 Award. The girls have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and with the help of the professional instructors have developed better and safer cycling habits.

“Some of the girls had never ridden a bike before and many do not have the opportunity to cycle, but the course has made them more comfortable and confident in the saddle.

“The opportunity for some of them to then take away a bike at the end of the course has been a great incentive and will hopefully encourage more girls to cycle to school or in their free time.

“Cycling is a great way for the girls to get around, get some exercise and reduce the amount of time spent stuck in a car or on the bus and socialise with their friends.”

Belle Vue Headteacher Mary Copeland said: “It has been a great opportunity for one year to take part in this project – not only learning a skill for now and the future, but also exploring sustainability and environmental issues important to today society.”

Whalley Range on Wheels and Onna Bike received their awards at the Cycling UK Members Get Together in Manchester on Saturday (8 October). Making the presentation was transport campaigner Caroline Russell, London Assembly Member and national transport spokesperson for the Green Party of England and Wales.

Tony Upfold

Manchester Community Cycle Group in Alexandra Park

Whalley Range on Wheels comprises a band of committed volunteers who are working tirelessly to make Alexandra Park in South Manchester a real hive of cycling activity.

Over the last two years the group has engaged with over three thousand local residents helping more people to experience the joy, independence and wellbeing a bike can bring.

For adults

Regular activities take place every Monday in the park with learn to ride sessions, road training, improver sessions for rusty returners and social rides taking place 9.30-11.30 and 12-2.00pm,  supported by instructors from Transport for Greater Manchester.  Volunteer mechanics are also on hand to help keep the fleet in good working order and help people to get their bikes fixed and to learn basics of good bike maintenance. Monthly Women in the Workshop bike maintenance training, for both beginners and improvers, run throughout the year on Saturday afternoons.

For kids

Kid cycling sessions after school on a Monday between 3.30pm and 5pm have proved very popular so the club is looking for ways to run more in partnership with  the PushPedalScoot project run by BikeRight! Futures CIC.

For the whole family

Throughout the year the group organises cycling themed events for the whole family often in collaboration with other local groups.  Through a series of Big Bike Revival events, supported by Cycling UK, held across Moss Side, Hulme and Whalley Range, more than 200 bikes were revived.  Many had been gathering dust in people sheds and back gardens.   In conjunction with Manchester City of Sanctuary they also helped 50 asylum seekers to get riding and to then #ridefree by fixing up  2nd hand bikes donated from the police, general public and retrieved from skips.

For Halloween,  the group supported a spooky kidical mass ride from the park along the Fallowfield loop.  50 people of all ages participated.  Further events are planned for the winter period including a light your bike up like a xmas tree ride on 17 December.

Project co-ordinator, Eve Holt, a resident in Whalley Range, cycling instructor and campaigner, is clear that everyone is welcome.  “People attend the sessions come rain or shine and the atmosphere is always positive and welcoming.  The appetite from local people has been wonderful.  People of all ages and backgrounds come to the sessions and both participants and volunteers alike talk about the impact it has on their wellbeing and lives.  Happy bikes make for happy people and a happy planet. ”

Whalley Range on Wheels recently received an award from Cycling UK in recognition of their work.

More info:

Regular sessions in Alexandra Park are free and are run as an open drop in.  No booking needed.  All equipment provided.  We meet in the car park off Russell Street, M16 7JL (behind tennis courts) at 9.30am and 12 midday.  Kids sessions then start at 3.30pm and 4.15pm (all children must be supervised).  For details of other events, workshops and activities coming up see Facebook page or Whalley Range on Wheels.  Donations of bikes, equipment, money, skills and time always appreciated. Project co-ordinator can be contacted at eve@happencic.org or 07812 157761