Worthy Down Camp becomes an African Village for a morning!

At Worthy Down camp on saturday we had a very successful and enjoyable morning with the CB projects good friend and community musician extraordinaire, Kristian Bediiako. Earlier in the week Stuart made African masks and music shakers with the Kids at the community centre, paving the way for the arrival of Kris and his unique way of getting community groups to relax and work together. To see a short video of the group in action go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5FNWXG5xIE
Now the group want to find more funding in order for Kris to do a longer piece of work with them...

2nd Workshop at Wonston a Success!

On Saturday 18th of April, we finished the Easter Holidays with a fantastic morning of Arts and Crafts for parents and children, at South Wonston Village hall in Rural Winchester. Scrapstore Artist, Vicki Hodgson, oversaw the mono-printing while Stuart worked on Clay play. The workshops have proved very popular and seem to have tapped into a local need.
We had many positive comments, such as 'Excellent craft activities to get my son and I working together. We both had a great time, especially with the clay making dinosaurs. Looking forward to the next event already'. Our next visits are on May 23rd and June 20th. Watch this space!

Update visit to Blackfield

We visited the Dad's club at Blackfield community centre on saturday morning and took along some self drying clay for the group to try out.
We also went outside into the garden, which has been beautifully refurbed by Daren and the gang, for an impromptu music session.
local dad, Nathan, brought along a didgeridoo and we had a go at getting a sound out of it, with varying degrees of success.
We are happy to say that Blackfield are now convinced and committed users of the Scrapstore, and use recycled materials on a regular basis!

Updates on some of our 2007-8 Projects

In recent weeks, the CB project has been catching up with some of our previous projects to see how they are progressing, and if they have increased sustainability.

At Pilands Wood they have responded well to the loss of the Centre Managers post, by bringing in, and training up more local volunteers to take up the various tasks that keep this popular community centre going. One of their younger volunteers, Natasha, has been working with us in the CB office, brushing up her Excel and Blogging Skills. Currently the centre is planning a new volunteer week at the beginning of June, which CB will be able to support with some additional funding.

Across the other end of Eastleigh, we have continued to keep in touch with Adam and the Crew at DICE. Dice has continued to run every monday at Wells Place with new people accessing it. Currently they are applying for funding for a paid co-ordinator now that a clear need has been established and the project has proven to be so invaluble to the learning disabled community in the town. Currently, CB volunteer and artist, Alice Windle, has been working with the group, and group leader, Adam Williams has also become a co-opted member of the Eastleigh Carnival Commitee, with a view to getting the group into the Carnival this August.


Over in Mansbridge, the Community Cinema is going great guns, with Mentions in the Soton Echo. Local Volunteers Nick and Issy have taken over the running of the group, and are reporting bigger audiences, as the monthly film showings catch on. They are currently exploring the possibility of extending into Saturday morning kids cinema shows and CB are facilitating CRB checks for the volunteers to assist the process.




Out in the Forest, the Fordingbridge Young parents group has also undertaken a transformation. They have now decided as a group, to widen particpation to vunerable parents of any age and to rebrand themselves as
the Cheeky Monkeys group. CB have brought in the services of TWICS, (Training for work in communities Southampton), to help with this process which has been greatly appreciated by the mums (and dads)

Tomorrow, we will be visting the Dad's group at the Blackfield Community Centre near Fawley, to see how they are getting on. So watch this Space...............

Mad Hatters Sunday at Middle Wallop

Sunday saw us working with Air Force families in Rural Test Valley at Middle Wallop Station. Solent University student, Alice Windle, worked with Stuart, facepainting adults and children. Other activites included costume and crown making, music and an Easter Egg Hunt!
We finished the day with a Mad Hatters Tea Party and everyone left with a big smile on their Face.
Many Thanks to Mike, the CD worker who hosted the event, and his volunteers Robert and Ken.

South Wonston Parents and Kids

This Saturday we had our first taster workshop at South Wonston, which was very well received, with many very positive comments. The general consensus of opinion was that this would be a very popular activity, and would fulfil a need in an area of rural isolation. The Parish Chair, David Selby, was very pleased with the turnout, and the great family atmosphere of the morning.
We have booked another session on the 18th April!

Cheeky Monkeys

The Fordingbridge Young parents group is progressing well and transforming into the more inclusive 'Cheeky Monkeys' group. The parents enjoyed another packed training session where they identified their group skills and created a new 'jobs' board for the sessions.