next month…..

We had an amazing time at our July meeting when Nikki Santilli from Hot Jazz Rag taught us all an energetic Charleston routine. The Charleston was popularized during the 1920s and 30s and we thought this would be a fabulous meeting as we hit the roaring 20s of the next century.   Nikki was an inspiring teacher and had devised a routine including Charleston basics, the aeroplane, the black bottom and bunny jumps.  We all had a great time, dancing in our glad rags in the comfort of our own home.  We also learnt where the origins of the Charleston lay, with dockworkers wanting to let off steam after a hard days work.  Huge thanks to Nikki who also performed the routine expertly for us at the end of the workshop.

Nikki is an established Charleston teacher and also teaches solo jazz, balboa and lindy hop. She runs a regular social tea dance Paper Moon at Hargrave Hall in Archway and like many of us has taken her business online during this time.  She will be starting a new round of classes at Morley College in September, check out her facebook page Hot Jazz Rag for more information.  These are likely to  be accessible both face to face and on Zoom so we can all keep swiveling….

DON’T FORGET YOUR SUNNIES….
To make our Zoom meeting photos more fun we thought it would be great to have a theme each month. This month we went Pulp Fiction and asked everyone to wear their sunglasses for the screen shot. See our results above…..

SCRUBS UPDATE
After four months of tireless cutting, sewing, organising, collecting and delivering scrubs and laundry bags, the Scrubs For The NHS team are winding down for now to take a well earned break. Obviously if there is another sudden surge in demand we will be springing back into action. To date we have delivered 430 sets of scrubs and 536 laundry bags from over 100 volunteers …what an amazing team effort!

BOOK GROUP
Our long running book group will be meeting virtually on 21st July and will be reading The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. Email in if you would like to join us but you do need to have read the book.

JOAN ALL OVER THE WORLD
The lovely Joan did get us the photos of herself on billboards in Miami, Aukland, London and Melbourne….it’s part of the #sending love campaign, a new global initiative to promote messages of love that unite communities all over the world during the fight against the effects of Covid-19. The campaign is being run by the World Out Of Home Organisation.

FABRIC FACE MASKS
At our last meeting we did discuss the idea of making reusable fabric face masks. Our sewers are taking a well earned break at the moment. Stone Rangers WI in Leytonstone are already up and running with this and are donating all the profits of the masks sold to Solace Women’s Aid so if you would like to buy one (or more) then email stonerangerswi@gmail.com

Struggling with the new normal….
If you are self-isolating and need some help getting essential supplies, or just to have a chat you can call the local hub co-ordination team on
07394 075 597
And if you would like to volunteer to be part of the team then email
info@debeauvoir.org.uk

From De Beauvoir Town (Hackney) Community on Facebook
A new food bank has been set up locally if you would like to drop of any donations. It is open Tuesday to Saturday 12 – 2pm at 23 Englefield Road. Any surplus will be delivered onto the Hackney Food Bank.  There is still a big demand for food parcels locally so if you can give anything please do….

Looking for local updates….

the De Beauvoir Association who run Party In The Park every year also publish a regular weekly newsletter with loads of fantastic information about what’s going on around De Beauvoir, virtual programmes for both kids and adults and information about Hackney council and local businesses that are operating in new and innovative ways throughout this crisis.
Sign up here at https://www.debeauvoir.org.uk

Solace Women’s Aid Update
As we are not meeting face to face and as all the Solace staff are working from home, it is not possible to continue with our regular collections for them at present.
They have launched a major fundraising campaign #staysafeathome
You may have seen in the news recently that there has been an exponential rise in domestic violence incidents during this crisis. Their campaign aims to raise £150,000 to enable them to do everything they can to ensure their doors stay open throughout this worrying time, to make sure women and children can still receive the support they urgently need.
Their refuges are still open and providing life-changing and life-saving support to women with nowhere else to turn,
Their helpline team and all staff are answering the phones so women have someone to talk to and;
Their community advocacy teams are working tirelessly to make sure, no matter where they are, London is safe for women and their children.
You can donate by clicking the link below, any donation, however small, will help them to continue the amazing work they do to keep women and children safe.
https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/12477#!/DonationDetails

If you have donated already or are planning to donate you might also like to contact Seedlings For Solace that will match your donation with seedlings that you can then plant out in your garden. You can contact Seedlings For Solace on Instagram @seedlingsforsolace