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What can you win? Whampgather raffle prizes announced

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It’s Whampgather XIII tonight, celebrating the fifth anniversary of @WHampstead on twitter and thus the start of the whole #whamp community project.

As always at whampgather, we’re raising money for The Winch. The Winch is a long-standing youth charity based in Swiss Cottage that works with young people all over Camden in a variety of ways. For some it’s an after-school club, for others it’s a critical support in their challenging lives. Previous whampgathers have funded drama programmes for the kids, and we’ve contributed to upgrading IT equipment among many other things. It’s a charity I personally believe in and think is very worthy of our support.

Thanks, therefore, to all the businesses that generously donate prizes to Whampgather raffles. Once again we have great prizes from the following companies:

West End Lane Books
Mill Lane Bistro
Yi Dao Clinic
Guglee
The Gallery
Look New Dry Cleaners
One Sixty
Feng Sushi
The Wet Fish Café
and our star prize tonight:
The 7-course tasting menu at Michelin starred restaurant L’Autre Pied

A huge thank you to all those businesses and to all of you coming tonight. Raffle tickets are £1.50 each or five for a fiver. You’ll be able to buy them at the cloakroom (back of the bar near the kitchen), and from our roving raffle ticket sellers. The draw is usually around 10.15pm. If you have to leave early, then I suggest you write your name/contact details on the back of your tickets and give them to a friend or to one of us for safekeeping as otherwise you won’t be able to win!

See you tonight at The Gallery from 7.30pm!

Whampgather raffle prizes

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If you’re coming to #whampgather this Thursday, you’re in for a treat. It promises to be the biggest and best yet. [if you have a ticket and realise you can’t make it, do please let me know].

Regular whampgatherers know that the evening falls into two sections. Before the Raffle, when we exert considerable pressure on you to buy raffle tickets because, y’know, whampgather is still free and you get discounts at the bar, and because it’s for a really good cause… and After the Raffle, when the music gets a bit louder and the crowd is a mixture of people sobbing that they didn’t win a prize and other people rejoicing in their victories.

There is of course also a transitional phase – The Raffle Itself – when you get a chance to hear my booming voice coming at you through loudspeakers, as if I didn’t have enough of a God complex already.

What can I win? What can I win?
As always, the raffle ticket sellers will have the final list of prizes, but if you’re super eager, here’s the list as it stands (in alphabetical order)

Bake-a-boo – afternoon tea for two
Feng Sushi – sushi-making masterclass for four people (and the chance to eat some!)
Guglee – £50 meal voucher
La Brocca – dinner for two during the Game Weekend (7th/8th December)
Oddbins – three bottles of wine
Rococo Chocolates – truffle making workshop for four people
Tricycle Cinema – 11 (yes, eleven) seats in the box, for any regular cinema screening
Waitrose – a mixed case of wine
West End Lane Books – three of the latest signed hardbacks AND a £30 voucher
The Wet Fish Café – £60 meal voucher
Yi-Dao Clinic – 1hr massage (Tuina, deep tissue, aromatherapy or holistic)

Where does the money go?
We are raising money for local youth charity, The Winch. We have supported The Winch for the past few years in a variety of ways, and our fundraising efforts so far have pulled in something over £2,500.

At the last whampgather we were able to raise enough to ensure the drama programme continued for another term. I went to see the results of this, and it was so obvious how much this has benefitted the young people involved.

This time, we’re focusing on a different strand of The Winch’s work – its Youth Forum.

The Forum supports 20 young people, eight in the 13-16 age group, and twelve 11-13 year-olds. It is aimed at anyone who wants to develop leadership skills and have more of a decision-making role. It focuses on developing character strengths, and the sessions are built around a healthy meal that the young people cook and eat together.

To date, the focus of the decisions has been on shaping what the kids would like to do at The Winch, and the results have been eclectic – from restarting the music workshop, to enterprise stall ideas for the local Swiss Cottage Fair, to planning a weekend away together. The team leaders also work with sub-groups to develop new areas of activity for the charity, e.g., more sports sessions, music workshops, holiday activities etc.

The Winch works with kids from all over Camden, though it naturally attaracts more young people from the immediate area and the Swiss Cottage estates in particular. On the surface it looks like any other youth club, but its involvement in the lives of young people goes far deeper, especially with its “cradle to career” philosophy, which ensures continuity of support for those young people who face particularly complex and difficult lives. Having been fortunate enough to be involved with the organisation over the past few years, I can honestly say that supporting it has a tangible positive impact on kids who may not have had the priveliges and benefits that many of us have had.

When the raffle ticket sellers come round on Thursday, please buy one or two tickets more than you might otherwise, and we should be able to raise a record amount this time. Joanna from The Winch will also be around during the evening, so if you want to learn more about the organisation, do seek her out. You can also of course read more on the website.

The Winch got Bare Talent

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You all know that we raise money for The Winch. At the last Whampgather all the money we raised from the raffle – which was just shy of £600 – went to support the youth charity’s drama group this term.

On Tuesday night I joined the Mayor of Camden, some parents and Winch helpers, and saw the group’s end-of-term production in one of the theatres at Central School of Speech & Drama.

We were treated to a Winch version of Britain’s Got Talent complete with nasty judges, entertaining advert breaks, and some fantastic performances by the young people. There was singing, dancing, comedy and a grand finale performance of the Harlem Shake.

You could see the confidence of the performers growing even while on stage as the nerves dissipated. They knew most of the audience members, but the stakes were raised by having the Mayor, replete with the chains of office, in the front row.

Aside from keeping us entertained, these drama workshops are enormously important in giving kids self-confidence as well as building their team skills such as listening. Even getting some of them to sit down for a couple of minutes was a challenge at the start of the term apparently, yet here was a controlled performance that the young people clearly enjoyed as much as we did in the audience.

A huge thank you to all the local businesses who donated raffle prizes and to all of you who bought raffle tickets at whampgather. You made it possible for the hardworking and committed staff and volunteers at The Winch to give these kids a creative outlet and an opportunity to develop a wide range of skills that will benefit them enormously as they go through life.

Support the Winch and win great prizes

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Tonight’s whampgather (The Alliance, Mill Lane, 7.15pm, ticketholders only I’m afraid) will once again be raising money for The Winch. Specifically, its drama programme Drama Massive.

Each term a slightly different group of 8-14 year-olds attend the weekly workshops, and they create and perform a piece at the end of term. Last year’s Robin in the Hood explored topics such as poverty, wealth, law, and politics. The play was set in contemporary London with Robin using BBM to gather people to protest against the cuts.

Central School of Speech and Drama offer studio space, but the charity needs funding to keep working with its drama facilitator, Rebecca. The broader aim of Drama Massive is to instil confidence, creativity, focus and team work.

Rebecca explains:

“The work we do, whilst fun, is also incredibly important. Drama helps develop social and emotional skills such as self-confidence, team work, conflict resolution, speaking and listening whilst also providing a safe creative space in which young people feel empowered to question the world around them and express themselves. Many of the young people that come to The Winch lead complicated and difficult lives – the process of creating theatre as part of a team can help them to express some of those stresses safely, whilst giving them a place where they consistently feel included, valued & listened to.”

It costs £900 to fund a term of Drama Massive. If everyone coming tonight buys five raffle tickets, we’ll cover that in one night. You’ll get to help provide kids in the area with a chance to do something that’s great for their social development and that’s fun – something that doesn’t always play a big part in their lives.

AND, if the do-gooder in you isn’t moved, then let me appeal to the greedy… because by entering the raffle you’ll have the chance to win some great prizes:

  • A ticket to see Edgar Wright (director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) introduce cult classic An American Werewolf in London at the BFI next month. These tickets sold out in 15 minutes, but thanks to @NxNW6 (who’ll be going with you) you can get your hands on one.
  • An easter egg from Cocoa Bijoux
  • Tea for two at Bake-a-boo
  • A £50 voucher from Guglee
  • A £50 voucher from Feng Sushi
  • A £50 voucher from West End Lane Books
  • A £50 voucher from The Gallery
  • A £50 voucher from The Wet Fish Café
  • A three-course meal for four from Spiga
  • A £60 voucher from Mill Lane Bistro

Also, everyone who buys a raffle ticket automatically gets a FREE easter egg courtesy as a little Easter treat from me. Really, what more incentive do you need?

If you want to find out more about The Winch, check out www.thewinch.org. Ann Kenney from the charity will also be coming along tonight, so you can also speak to her.

See you later!

The Winch: A time for new dreams

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Some more recent arrivals to West Hampstead Life may not be aware that I actively support local youth charity The Winchester Project. You can read a bit more about the genesis of that support here.

If you’d like to know more about the excellent work The Winch does, then I would urge you to go along on December 1st to hear about a “Time for New Dreams”. This would be an excellent opportunity to find out how you might be able to support the organization (whether financially, or by giving your time, expertise, or opportunities through your network), and to learn how it’s moving forward.

Hope that I’ll see lots of you there! Click the pic for a larger version and more details.

It’s business time at The Winch

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Whatever the eventual outcome of the election, it is unlikely to remove the need for organisations like The Winchester Project – the charity that #whampers have been supporting in 2010. Back in late March, I posted director Paul Perkins‘ appeal for Admin & Support help. Now, Paul is back with a new request – this time for help under the banner of Business & Enterprise.

An abridged version of his e-mail appears below. If there’s any way you can help, do please contact him directly.

Dear Friend,

Our work at the Winch continues at full throttle. As well as seeing our Youth team grow and taking on new placement students and volunteers, we have recently run another successful Play Scheme over the Easter holidays, for which we had around 50 children. It’s busy work, but in the holidays the building really comes alive with activity, laughter and energy. It’s a great time to be around.

Following on from the Admin & Support drive, I’m delighted to say that we’ve had an opportunity to meet with many of you who are able to give your time and energies in the office and other areas.

Perhaps, though, that wasn’t for you and you’d be able to offer more through Business & Enterprise. There are a few starting-off suggestions in the attached PDF, but there are a couple of reasons we’re asking about this. One is that charities such as ours depend substantially on grants from statutory and private sources, and whilst we welcome this we’re keen to reduce our dependency on these streams, in part by developing our own social enterprise activities. That’s also about sustainability, and with the risk of cuts on their way from central and by extension local government, we want to develop as a more self-sufficient, sustainable voluntary sector organisation. Secondly, it’s not only social enterprise which you might be able to help with but pro bono and in kind services and expertise – whatever it is you do may well add value and have relevance to our initiatives here – services and skills which can be contributed on a pro bono or in kind basis.

If you’re not sure whether the skills you have, or an idea which has popped up, fits with this area, don’t hesitate to drop me a line to talk it over.

In the meantime, thank you once again for being part of what we’re doing at the Winch. The work, time, insight and energy which you give makes a real difference to the children and young people we serve and, ultimately, our wider community.

Best,

Paul
Paul Perkins
Director
Winchester Project
21 Winchester Road
London NW3 3NR
Tel: 020 7586 8731
http://www.thewinch.org/

The Winch Needs You!

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As many readers will know, the whamp community is supporting local charity The Winchester Project this year under the banner of #whampforgood.

Already, many of you have helped out in lots of different ways, whether by volunteering at the recent open evening, producing films (more of that later), or giving money at some of our events. As some big changes happen at The Winch, it’s time for another call to arms. Time to see whether you might be able to help. To that end, here’s a message from Paul, the director of The Winch:

Dear Friend,

Time whistles by, and unfortunately it’s been slightly longer than the week I promised for sending out a list of the different ways in which people can get involved at the Winch. We’ve managed to distil all the possibilities (or all those we could think of) into 8 areas and will be sending one out at the beginning of each week. Do have a look and see what appeals, and of course if not for you it may be that someone else you know has been looking for a certain opportunity, or has an idea, or what have you. I’m keen that M4th [the open evening] wasn’t simply a nice evening (although we enjoyed it immensely!) but that it’s a foundation we can build on. Thank you once again for being a part of it.

This week, we’re focusing on ‘Admin & Support’. This is the bread and butter of running any organisation which is crucial but pretty unglamorous. Ultimately, we need phones answered, photocopying done and wherever possible, resources contributed (or sponsored!). There are a good few suggestions for what shape this can take, but even simply having more people around – if only for a few hours a week – can free other staff or volunteers up to do other things. It’s a really easy point of contact and and can be ideal as experience on the CV.

In the meantime, here is a write-up of the evening done by the Ham & High, and you can read the article which featured our work in the Camden New Journal. On top of this, we’re excited to say that we’ve been contacted and are in talks with a couple of individuals who are interested in supporting our plans for the future of the building, potentially on quite a grand scale. Of course, I’ll keep you posted on this.

Thanks for being part of what we’re doing at the Winch.

Best,

Paul

If you are new to @Whampstead or the blog and have NO idea what any of this is about, then why not watch this short film made for The Winch by whamper @hollycocker

An Introduction to The Winch from Holly Cocker on Vimeo.

#whampforgood

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I’m really excited to tell you about a new #whampventure that I hope lots of you are going to get involved with.

Last night @SarahReardon and I met Paul Perkins, who is the director of The Winchester Project (aka The Winch). The Winch is a charity that focuses on kids and young people. It is based in Swiss Cottage (on Winchester Road, thus the name), but works with young people from all over this part of NW London and beyond.

You can read much more about how it helps people on its website, but very broadly it has three streams: “Play” for kids aged 4–12, “Youth” for 12–25 year-olds, and “Sport”, which cuts across all age groups. The Youth stream is about engaging with young people and helping their development in all manner of ways through workshops, training and general support.

The Winch is not a new charity – it’s been going for more than 30 years. But that doesn’t mean that it has everything figured out. Like all charities it relies on support from the wider community, both in terms of money and time.

That’s where we come in. I hope! I’d like to make The Winch our WHampstead charity for 2010.

I am absolutely NOT about to ask you all to dip into your wallets. Although of course any donations would be more than welcome. What I am asking for is your time. Yes, that’s a bigger commitment than money, but also a far more rewarding one and it’s up to you how big or small you want that commitment to be – whatever it is you can guarantee it will be warmly appreciated.

There are two big areas in which people can get involved. One is volunteering to work directly with young people. The other – and I can’t stress enough that this is at least as important – is volunteering to help on the administrative side. This covers everything from PR to fundraising to design to planning to… well, the list really does go on and on.

Maybe you have a talent for negotiating sponsorship deals from blue-chip corporates; maybe your company would like to offer a young person a supported work placement; maybe you’re really interested in Health & Safety issues (someone must be?!); maybe you’re a fantastic events organiser. These are the sorts of skills they need. Or maybe you want to get involved on the sports side – The Winch is especially keen on promoting sports for girls at the moment, so maybe you’d be interested in supporting that.

Between us I reckon we must have an enormous range of personal and professional skills that we can bring to the table. So let’s do it. Let’s show that the buzz of having a community extends just a tad further than drinks at the Alice House and grumbling about the Jubilee Line.

What next? Well, I guess have a think. Have a think about what you might be interested in doing, what contacts you have that might be useful, what sort of time commitment appeals to you (if it’s volunteering for half a day at a one-off event that’s fantastic. If it’s seeking to join a working group on fundraising that’s fantastic too). Oh, and follow @the_winch. In January, it’s holding an open day. Come along to that; meet some of the other volunteers. Most importantly meet some of the young people. Between now and then drop me any ideas you have (DM me to get my e-mail if you don’t have it already). Or of course contact The Winch directly – you don’t have to go through me, I’m simply trying to get the ball rolling and am happy to help coordinate some of this to the extent that that is helpful. In the meantime Sarah and I will be finding out a bit more about the precise, pragmatic ways in which the whampcommunity may be able to help. So there’ll be more information to follow.

I hope that’s covered the basics. A few FAQs:
I really don’t think I have anything to offer, but I’d like to get involved?
Great. You may well have more to offer than you think, but at the very minimum being prepared to help out at events would be great. Have a think about your work skills and your personal interests and how those might be relevant in running an organisation or in motivating and inspiring someone.

The whole charity thing isn’t my scene. Are you going to be banging on about this for ever now and will I be ostracised for not being interested?
Hell no. The whole #whamp thing is supposed to be fun – a way to meet people locally and be sociable (and eat and drink). I know not everyone is interested, and that’s absolutely fine. Nor will I be constantly going on about it. From time to time I’ll promote events or maybe ask for more specific help but there’s no way I expect everyone, or even a majority of people to end up getting involved. All other whampness will continue as normal!

Is it ok just to make a large anonymous donation but not spend any time on this?
You bet. Go to the website, or just send ’em a cheque.

What about a small donation?
See above. Everything is extremely welcome.

What happens in 2011? Are we just going to walk away?
Obviously not. For the moment I’m thinking the idea of a charity to support for a full year is a good concrete one. It’s very likely that at the end of the year we just continue the relationship and anyway volunteers can do whatever they want to do! We may add another charity for 2011 if any of us are still doing the whole Twitter thing. But I’d like to think that some of us will be so involved with The Winch by then that it won’t even be a question.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. All thoughts, feedback, comments welcome.