Transforming lives through Kindness, Belief and Hope
Welcome to our December Newsletter.
Hear from Chris Price our CEO, about our Christmas campaign Give a Gift of Hope and how Pecan’s projects are supporting our community.
Our Christmas campaign, Give a Gift of Hope, aims to raise £40,000 over the festive season to support our essential services, from foodbank packages to keeping our warm space open to ensuring our Women’s Service can support as many women as possible over the coming months.
Thanks to all our generous donors, we have raised over £10,000 so far. Please keep sharing the link or QR code, as every penny and every share makes a huge difference.
Fundraising for Pecan at Christmas
Christmas Cards
Pecan Christmas cards are now available online or you can pick them up at Peckham Pantry and Together @ Pecan. Just £5 per pack of 10 cards, and every penny goes towards Pecan.
Online orders can be made via the unique Pecan webshop here.
Orders can also be made by phone on 01227 811642 and all major cards are accepted.
Christmas Cards £5 per pack of 10 cards | e-cards £1.00 per addressee
Christmas Accessories £1-£9
Fundraising ideas
There is still time to support our Give a Gift of Hope campaign by being creative with fundraising. Why not try out some of the following:
- Tea Party – Hold a Christmas tea party with your friends or colleagues, collecting £2 from everyone who comes to donate to Pecan. This is a great chance to get that first mince pie eaten!
- Christmas Jumper Day – a great option for schools and workplaces (you may want to do a jumper collection first and everyone can pick one from the donated jumpers, this helps to keep jumpers from landfill and stops anyone who may not be able to afford one from missing out.) Charge a small fee £1-2 to everyone wearing a Christmas Jumper on the nominated day.
- Give up a coffee day – everyone puts the amount they would have spent on a take away coffee (or other drink) into the fundraising pot instead.
- Reverse advent calendars – collect a different food item for every day of advent and donate the goods to the Foodbank (we need all Christmas goods by Monday 12 December at the latest so that the parcels can be made up in time).
Southwark Foodbank
Foodbank Wednesday at London Bridge
Christmas Foodbank Wednesday Bucket Collection
The next foodbank bucket collection at London Bridge Station will be on Wednesday 21 December, 7am-10am. Come by and hear the London Oriana Choir singing carols if you are passing through!”
November Foodbank Wednesday Bucket Collection
‘We raised over £1500!’
Thank you to our Rooster PR and Elkins Ltd volunteers for supporting us at London Bridge for our Foodbank Wednesday Bucket Collection. We raised over £1500! Thank you to all who donated.
Tesco National Collection
‘We collected a total of 3242.91kg of food’
CBRE Volunteers, Pecan’s Mark and Tom at our Winter National Collection
(Tesco, Old Kent Road)
Southwark Foodbank volunteer Virginia, a team from Teads (Surrey Quays Tesco) and Vested (Tesco, Old Kent Road)
Last week, foodbank staff and volunteers were in Tesco Surrey Quays and Tesco Old Kent Road for three days, collecting food for our Winter National Collection, in partnership with FareShare.
We collected a total of 3242.91kg of food! Tesco will top this up by an extra 20% in cash. The donations make a huge difference to those facing hardship this winter.
A big thank you to all the volunteers and corporates who participated, engaging with customers, and handing out shopping lists.
Warehouse Volunteers
Volunteers Rachel and Alice from Mastercard. Jaclyn,Milan, Pinja, Matt, Adelson, Marietta and Lauren from Preqin.
A Southwark where everyone can afford the essentials
Alongside our day-to-day work of supporting our community with emergency food, we want to build a future where none of us have to rely on a foodbank, because we all have the money for the things we need.
We are currently working closely with members of our community who have used our foodbank and Peckham Pantry to develop a local campaign for a Southwark where everyone can afford the essentials. To get involved with our community organising activities, please contact Flora, Community Engagement Officer.
Get help with the cost of living crisis
Find out what support you might be eligible for and where to get help.
Together
Officially Launched
Our new community space called ‘Together’ had its launch on 29 November. We opened our doors, and we had visitors come in to find out about the new space. Plus, they enjoyed soup, hot drinks, snacks and a slice of our celebration cake.
This new service will extend in time to include a programme of events, which will include employment advice, workshops to learn new skills and a range of different wellbeing activities such as mindfulness sessions. However, for now drop by on Monday or Tuesdays from 1-3pm for a chat, advice or a hot drink.
Christmas Get Together
Together (Previously HOurBank) will be hosting a Christmas Get Together, on Friday 16 Dec, 2pm-4pm. Light refreshments will available. Members are looking forward to some games, carol singing, and a chance to see the new Together Hub.
Creative Writing Sessions
We have just concluded our 8 week series of creative writing workshops. All the sessions were enthusiastically attended. On Friday 2 December, 12 members were awarded a certificate of completion.
Each week, members of the group were challenged to write on a particular topic and then invited to share what they had produced. The environment remained positive and reassuring for those who wanted to share the material they had produced.
These meetings have been so well received that the group plans to continue meeting on Friday mornings in the New Year. Creative Expressions is the working title for this new series of workshops and will include sessions on public presentation and performance. It will run on Friday mornings 10.30am-12.30pm, from 20 January to 24 February.
Discussion Groups
We will be running Discussion Group on Tuesday mornings in the new Together Space from Tuesday, 24 January for 8 weeks starting at 11:00 am. Discussions should last about an hour. The group has worked very well online but is now going to try meeting ‘in person’. The topics will be mainly fun and lightweight. They will include topics such as, “Sweets I remember from childhood”, “Best and worst jobs I ever had” and “I’m not throwing that away!”.
Employment Surgeries
1-2-1 Support
1-2-1 Employment support with Gbemi. Register via Eventbrite for a 50 minute session: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/employment-surgeries
Training Sessions:
Monday 12 December: 11am-1pm or 2-4pm:
Join Booking.com for careers coaching, support to build your CV, get on Linked-In and more.
Booking.com, one of the world’s leading digital travel companies (more about the company mission here). Staff members will be lending their industry and job searching expertise to Pecan. Specialities include (but you don’t have to be interested in this sector to access the support): software engineers, product designer, product owner / manager, tester and software engineering manager.
Register here or just turn up on the day: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/employment-training-tickets
Tuesday 20 December: 11am-1pm or 2-4pm:
Join our corporate partner (TBC) for careers coaching, support to build your CV, get on Linked-In and more.
Staff members will be lending their industry and job searching expertise to Pecan.
Register here or just turn up on the day: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/employment-surgeries-tickets
Women's Service
Christmas Activities and Party
The Women’s Service have begun their Christmas activities and preparations for their Christmas Party on Tuesday 20 December, 11am-3pm.
Please remember this and all Women’s Service events are WOMEN ONLY.
Christmas Activities
- Thursday 8 December | Paper Chains
- Tuesday 13 December | Winter Remedy
- Thursday 15 December | Salt Scrub
- Tuesday 20 December | Women’s Christmas Party
Peckham Pantry
Coop, Big Zuu and Live Cooking in Leyton Square Park
Below: Big Zuu at Peckham Pantry (Courtesy of BBC Newsbeat)
Peckham Pantry was part of the Co-op and Your Local Pantry community day which highlighted why we need pantries, the importance of good affordable food and choice.
Peckham Pantry staff, ambassadors and members worked exceptionally hard to make sure the day went well. They took time out to share with the media how our Pantry works and why they are proud to be part of a food service that gives people choice, affordability and dignity. All which fits into Pecan’s ethos of Kindness, Belief and Hope.
Big Zuu joined the party
Across from Peckham Pantry is Leyton Square Park where there was live cooking and activities for everyone. Even in the rain the fun continued. A big highlight was Big Zuu live cooking and simultaneously chatting and making the audience laugh – all while he prepared a delicious brocolli and cheese pasta dish. Follow Big Zuu’s Instagram for the latest updates, recipes and blogs.
Blog: Co-op partners with Your Local Pantry to bring communities together around food
Instagram @gofundyourself supporting Peckham Pantry: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClRlejdDDFf/
Faith & Belief Community Awards
Christmas Opening and Closure Times
23 December | 9am – 4pm
24 December (Christmas Eve) | 9am – 2pm
25 December (Christmas Day) | Closed
26 December (Boxing Day) | Closed
27 December | Closed
28 December | 10am – 2pm
29 December | 10am – 2pm
30 December | 10am – 2pm
31 December (New Year’s Eve) | Closed
1 January 2023 (New Year’s Day) | Closed
2 January 2023 (Bank Holiday) | Closed
3 January 2023 | Back to normal opening times
Events and useful links for November 2022
SE5 Forum launches free Christmas Community Kitchen Camberwell Green | Saturday 10 December 12-2pm
SE5 Forum is launching a free Festive Community Kitchen on Camberwell Green in partnership with local foodbank
Website: SE5 Forum- Southwark Community Multi Sports Tournament for Young People | 20-21 December, 11.30am-3pm
www.legendslearningcentre.com
- All Saints Church | Christmas events
www.allsaintspeckham.org.uk/christmas - Southwark Cathedral Events | Southwark Cathedral will be holding various free worship and community events over the Christmas period, including the Mayor of London’s yearly Christmas carol service on the 14 December.
Link to Christmas services: Services: Southwark Cathedral
Location: London Bridge, SE1 9DA
- Theatre Peckham | 1-23 December
A modern-day take on Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol.
Website: Theatre Peckham
Location: 221 Havil St, SE5 7SB
Christmas Closure 2022
Pecan and its services (excluding Peckham Pantry) will be closed from Friday 23 December to Monday 2 January.
We re-open on Tuesday 3 January 2023.
