Rebel Base

Campaign opposes cuts to children's mental health services in Lewisham

A petition has been launched to protect Lewisham's mental health services from Council cuts. The campaigners say:

Lewisham Council is planning to cut children’s mental health (CAMHS) funding by £150,000 over the next 2 years.  This follows a £94,000 cut last year and is on top of NHS efficiency savings demanded by the government.

The proposed cut will happen at a time when we are in the midst of an unprecedented crisis in the NHS- caused by seven years of inadequate health and social care funding by the Conservative and coalition governments.  Lewisham council have been forced to cut £153 million from their total budget, with more cuts to come.

The Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign, together with staff, patients and their parents, believe the current situation cannot continue - more money is desperately needed, not less!

At least 3 jobs will be lost, on top of 2 jobs that were lost last year. This equates to hundreds of appointments a year disappearing.

- Waiting lists, already too long, will get longer.
- Clinicians will be forced to make impossible decisions about which cases are less serious, which children will have to wait longest and who will not get the best care.
- More children will go to A&E if these cuts happen.  When young people are in crisis, they often attend A&E because community services are overstretched.  This is distressing for them, it is not the suitable environment and it adds pressure to the hospitals.

We believe that every mental health problem has the potential to become critical if untreated - especially for children and young people.  Lewisham has a number of risk factors that mean our young people’s mental health is worse than average. We cannot afford to increase this risk by increasing the number of children not receiving adequate help in the community.

As well as signing and sharing this petition you can help by:

Joining us to lobby the council -  Wednesday, 17th January at 6.45pm
Coming to our public meeting on Tuesday, 6th February @ 7.30pm @ New Cross Learning
Attending a protest outside the council meeting on 21st February which will have the final power to ratify the proposed cuts.

AFC Lewisham

AFC Lewisham is a Charter Standard football club based in Ladywell. Formed in 2012, it is a Sunday youth football club providing playing opportunities for local children. They are looking for more players. Chris writes:

My son has recently joined AFC Lewsiham Under 7’s football team, and we need a 2/3 more players for a good squad.  It a lovely well run club with training on a Thursday in Ladywell and matches on a Sunday in and around south east london.  We're looking for 2/3 6 or 7 year olds in Year 2 of school to join.

For any more information the website is https://www.afclewisham.com and the contact person is Josephine at afclewisham@outlook.com or text or phone on 07592 728437.

Outdoor classroom fundraiser

The Friends of Frendsbury Garden, in west Brockley, have launched a fundraiser, which ends this evening, to support the development of an outdoor classroom in the park. They write:

"Frendsbury Gardens is an inner city community garden located within Brockley. To ensure the diverse community can be use the garden all year around we want an outdoor space that could be used for gardening in the rain, chilling with friends or as a performance space.

"We want it have lots of bright colour so that the educational space is both functional in keeping people dry but is a piece of art in of itself. The timber deck is shaped like a leaf and is made from recycled materials. The classroom is designed to be quick, cheap & easy to construct by volunteers, and it aims to inspire those who build and use it."

To support the project, click here.

Ladywell Fields Food Festival, August 5

The Albany launches mission to give every Lewisham five year old a theatre experience

The Albany theatre in Deptford is a great local institution and this is a great campaign. Cassie from The Albany writes:

Lewisham Residents! Please help us support the next generation of leaders, artists and entrepreneurs in Lewisham by supporting this fantastic new campaign by the Albany, raising money to give a free theatre trip to every 5 year old child in the borough.

The aim is to crowdfund the first 1000 tickets, so please give whatever you can afford and share the campaign far and wide.

The campaign is being supported by Lewisham Council and the lovely Jude Law (yes, he's a Lewisham boy), so let's give more kids the chance to enjoy the fabulous experience of theatre.

Click here to support the campaign.

Revolting Rhymes, April 29th

SMASHfest Supervolcano

It's SMASHfestUK week!

The pop-science and theatre festival aimed at kids of all ages has taken over the Deptford Lounge and The Albany during half term and is staging a range of free Supervolcano-themed events.

The 2017 centrepiece is a five metre-high cryovolcano that will erupt, shooting 1500 ping pong balls high into the sky above the Albany Theatre as part of a world record attempt. They say:

"Using liquid nitrogen at -196 degrees we’ll be setting off a massive explosion that will rock the festival. Be part of history by helping us build this behemoth. Then when it goes off you’ll be a world record holder. Make sure you’re there! Ear Pugs will be provided - It's Going to Be Loud!"

For the full list of events, click here.

Lewisham's young carers

Today is Young Carers Awareness Day, which recognises the contribution and needs of young people in the UK who have responsibility for caring for a family member.

Carers Lewisham is a charity organisation based in Forest Hill that supports unpaid Carers in the London Borough of Lewisham aged 5 upwards. It works with 7,000 people and aims to improve life skills, learning, self-esteem, confidence, resilience and to help reduce inappropriate care. Carers Lewisham's Luisa Depaoli writes:

Research shows there are likely to be around 3,500 young carers in Lewisham. Carers Lewisham currently has over 700 young carers (5-17 years old) and over 300 young adult carers (18-24 years old) registered with the service. 

Being a young carer should not mean that a child’s future hopes, dreams, and ambitions are shattered. We know young carers miss or cut short on average 10 weeks of school a year as a direct result of their caring role, and those aged between 16 and 18 years are twice as likely to be not in education, employment or training (NEET)

The aim of Carers Trust’s Young Carers Awareness Day is to raise awareness of the plight of these children. Carers Trust is asking people to spot the signs of caring, such as being late or absent from school or behavioural issues. Swift identification of young carers will ensure they get vital support.

Visit www.carerslewisham.org.uk for details of local services, professional support for those working with children and young people and Carers Trust’s specialist online communities for young carers at babble.carers.org and at matter.carers.org for young adults. 

Help fund a play therapy room for abused children

Mosac is a voluntary organisation supporting all non-abusing parents and carers whose children have been sexually abused. They have just moved in to Endwell Road premises and are fundraising to support their work. They say:

The building we have taken over is a former nursery, and offers great possibilities for our services, however it needs some refurbishment. We don't have the funds to buy in professional renovators, so we are trying to do most of it ourselves.

We need donations of items such as office chairs, desks, tables, toilet furniture to help us fit out the building.

We have also launched a Gofundme campaign to pay for a Play Therapy room. You can find the details here and any donations would be gratefully received.

For more information about Mosac's work, click here.

Lewisham scraps free swimming for kids

On September 30th, a Lewisham Council-funded scheme that allowed under-16s in the borough to swim for free in the borough's pools, came to an end. The Council says:

"Because of ongoing government cuts, we can no longer afford to subsidise this scheme. Young people can still swim regularly with competitively priced swimming sessions across our five pools, or join a swimming club or swim school programme which may offer reduced prices.

"Free swimming for looked-after children and over-60s will continue."

Thank you to Joe for the news.

Somerville Adventure Playground

Sue writes:

Somerville Youth and Play Provision on the border between New Cross and Peckham, is the only adventure playground in the area and has been maintained as a labour of love by local people for over 40 years. This weekend, after its latest refurbishment, it reopened to the public.

Somerville is a safe, supervised free access space for the entire community offering the young people of the area fantastic opportunities. This summer alone, Somerville has taken kids on sixteen off-site trips.

Under the stewardship of Bradley Cummings - who was a Somerville regular as a child - the ambition is to become a place where young people can learn vital skills for the future, discuss problems and issues they are facing and get much needed support in all areas of their lives.

For details click here.

Children's Art Workshop, September 24th

Rebecca writes:

As part of Deptford X Festival, developer of the Deptford Foundry, Anthology, invites you to join a free workshop for an afternoon of laughter, play and art exploration.

Join artist Hannah Clayden to explore ideas around laughter and architecture, in a free family workshop that children will love! Come along for some large scale collaborative making as we re-imagine how buildings work, taking inspiration from Anthology’s Deptford Foundry. What kind of bridge could you build out of cocktail sticks? What if the tallest building in London was a giant slide? Parents are encouraged to get stuck in too!

Hannah Clayden’s art is primarily collaborative. Working across disciplines she deliberately blurs the boundary between art and everyday life, often using humour to take existing situations and re-imagine them. Through play and games, she encourages others to take risks, make mistakes and develop new ways of relating to each other.

This activity workshop is most suitable for children aged between 7 – 11 years. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

For details, click here.

BeBright nursery opening on Telegraph Hill

BeBright Project is a nursery for 6 months to 5 year olds and a training centre for small businesses and Early Years Practitioners, which has opened in The Old Library above the Hill Station Cafe in Telegraph Hill (Kitto Road).

Opening in September, you can get more details via its Facebook page here.

Rice Paper Tales at The Deptford Lounge

Georgie writes:

Rice Paper Tales is inspired by Tiet Van Nguyen, a Vietnamese story teller of some of the most beautiful, funny and captivating Vietnamese folk tales.

Trikhon is looking to provide a uniquely Vietnamese alternative to all-time favorite British Fairy Tales with some classic Vietnamese folk tales. A fantastic way to introduce children to tales from a different culture and a great experience for the summer holidays- we would like as many children from the local area to be able to come and see it.

We're also trying something new for tickets: a Pay-What-You-Decide basis, so you book as normal but don’t need to pay until after you see the show. Pay what you can afford, based on whether you enjoyed the show!

Rice Paper Tales is supported by Arts Council England and will be showing at the Deptford Lounge on Sat 10 + 17 Sept at 12:00, 13:30 + 15:00.

Mandy Pandy, 252 Brockley Road

Mandy Pandy is a new children's clothing and flower shop at 252 Brockley Road. Click here for more details on Facebook and post your reviews below.

With thanks to Paul.

Under-11s Fun Fair, Hilly Fields

The Ashmead Primary Nursery

Ashleigh Mugridge, the Early Years Co-Ordinator at Ashmead Primary School in St John's, writes:

Spaces are still available in our fantastic and inspiring Nursery, which is set within our thriving Early Years Foundation Stage at Ashmead. We offer a stimulating and child centered approach to learning, supporting your child’s exploration and development through a child led curriculum. The children are supported by a highly experienced and dedicated team of practitioners within a fantastic environment; including our shared, established outdoor space and onsite Forest School.

Both part time and full time options are available for this September’s intake. If your child’s DOB is on or before 31 August 2013 then you are entitled to take up a free part time Nursery place from September 2016. For parents and carers interested in full time options, we offer the chance for parents to pay to ‘top up’ their child’s hours to full time, after an initial settling in period (usually after the first half term).

Ashmead parent Rebecca Hallam says:

"Ashmead Nursery operates child-led learning, which means my daughter is sharing her interests with the Nursery staff, they are listening and tailoring the learning experiences to those interests through play. She is also inspired by her friends interests too!"

If you're interested in sending your child to the nursery, please email Ashleigh here.

The Phantom Phonebooth: Mystery Micro Library for Kids

Another Brockley phone box has been converted into a micro library. This one is on the corner of Wickham Road and Lewisham Way and is specifically for children's books.

Given the success of the first one, which regularly overflows with donations and the lack of any better ideas for what to do with these boxes, this is a brilliant idea.

Thank you to Jeff for the photo. If you know more about its origins, please post the details below.

Seven Dwarfs, One Tree Hill

If there's a statute of limitations on pantomimes, St Augustine's Church doesn't want to know. They say:

Its Panto time again (oh no it's not..) Pirate Pantomimes who previously brought you Jack and the Beanstalk and Sleeping Beauty, present 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'.  

St Augustine's Church on Saturday 6th February 3.30pm and 7.30pm plus Sunday 7th February at 3.30pm.  Book online at augustineonetreehill.org.uk limited tickets available and selling fast - don't miss out!