Welcome
Welcome to our Winter Newsletter. Yes, Christmas is just around the corner and that means amongst all the festivities, Pecan’s yearly fundraising campaign is up and running: Give a Gift of Hope, Kindness, Belief.
… the money raised will support our projects to deliver much needed support that helps prevent the need for Foodbanks.
In our 35th year we hope to raise at least £35,000 to support our services into 2025. We know that this time can be challenging financially – the weather is colder, bills are higher, the cost of presents and decorations and all the trappings of Christmas can put people under pressure. That is why the first £6,000 will be used to purchase vouchers to be given out to our clients over Christmas, allowing them to buy whatever they need. The rest of the money raised will support our projects to deliver much needed support that helps prevent the need for Foodbanks:
- Peckham Pantry providing residents with healthy, affordable food in our social supermarket.
- Our Women’s Service providing much needed advocacy and activities for women facing disadvantage.
- Our Employment Team offering a range of support for Parents and unpaid carers, over 50s and long-term unemployed to find suitable, enjoyable work.
- Our fabulous Together programme offering a warm space, free café, free activities and plenty of opportunity to meet other people, seek support and increase wellbeing.
- And of course, we will continue to provide emergency food parcels to those in crisis through Southwark Foodbank.
We hope, even if you are not in a position to give money, you will help us by passing on the information, sharing the QR code to our donations page and encouraging anyone who can give to do so. We hope to see many of you at our free café and the Together Christmas Party on 16 December!
Please keep in touch and let us know what activities you would like to see at Pecan via email, our social media channels or pop into to our café.
Head of Services
Christmas Update Online
Monday 2 December, 12.30-1pm
Find out why we aim this Christmas to raise £35K in our 35th year to support our vital projects. Register via Eventbrite, and a Zoom link will be shared before 2 December 2024.
Pecan Highlights
Pecan 35 celebration at the South London Gallery
It was wonderful to also hear from Pecan’s founder Simon Pellew and the inspiring Cllr Naima Ali.
On Tuesday 15 October we held our 35th celebration event as a charity at the South London Gallery, and we were really pleased to have a room full of wonderful people connected to Pecan.
It was wonderful to also hear from Pecan’s founder Simon Pellew and the inspiring Cllr Naima Ali. Two members from our Legislative Theatre members gave a fantastic flavour of their engagement work. Plus, we also launched our new logo and branding, which was made possible by becoming a Charity Partner with Creative Impact Club and being partnered with graphic designer Bethan Thomas. To see more about our history visit our history page.
Black History Month
This year we received funding from Southwark Council to programme a series of community events for Black History Month. We collaborated with local organisations – Ngozi Okorie, Kunga from Adinkra Arts and Bold Tendencies – to hold a variety of creative events to film screenings in our Together Hub. Read more about Black History Month and events in our Together Hub further on in this edition.
Fundraising Updates
Welcome to our new Fundraising Manager
Pecan is pleased to welcome Mike Taylor
Mike joins us from Ace of Clubs, a homelessness charity in South London, where he was the Director of Operations, Fundraising and Charity Shops for eight years.
Prior to this, he spent more than 25 years working in corporate finance, accounting and treasury, after studying Accounting and Finance at the University of Lancaster.
Mike was born and bred in Liverpool and is very proud of his hometown. His Liverpudlian DNA means that he has an excellent sense of humour, is hard-working and approachable!
Christmas Raffle
FormSE15 are hosting a Christmas 2024 online fundraising raffle for Southwark Foodbank: Southwark Foodbank Raffle Ticket – formse15
Raffle tickets cost £1 each and all proceeds will go directly towards Pecan-Southwark Foodbank. There are no limits on how many tickets you can buy. Select ‘Local Pickup’ at checkout to ensure no shipping is charged.
Each individual digital £1 ticket will count as one entry into our draw – please note, these are NOT paper tickets. Each individual prize listed will have one winner that will be drawn at random and contacted after the raffle ends on Saturday 30 November 2024 at 9am.
You must be over 18 to enter the raffle.
Prizes will either need to be collected from our shop at 186 Bellenden Road or if they are online vouchers, we will send these onto the recipient.
Please make sure you include both your email address and mobile number when completing your purchase. Good luck!
Santa in the City - Pecan Day
Join us for the Santa in the City festive 4.5k fun run/walk and fundraise for Pecan. London, 7pm Wednesday 4 or Thursday 5 December 2024, which is Pecan Day – so look out for staff!
All entries come with a Santa suit! Fundraising aim £200. You can book your place for the Santa in the City run here: Santa in the City | PECAN (enthuse.com).
Deadline for signups: Monday 26 November or you can come and support Pecan runners on 5 December
You can gift a place by sponsoring one of our staff or volunteers to run the Santa in the City for £35 (and give them a great experience!).
Christmas cardmaking at Nice & Graphic
Thank you to Arena-Stone ceramics for kicking off our christmas card making session and Nice & Graphic and then completing the task in Pecan’s Together Hub.
Pecan Food Services
Southwark Foodbank, Peckham Pantry, Engagement and Southwark Food Action Alliance
Southwark Foodbank
The foodbank was busy over the summer, seeing high numbers of people at a several sessions. We were able to distribute personal hygiene products to every single household, thanks to a generous donation from the Bank of England.
New Trussell branding and new Southwark logo
You may be aware that Trussell Trust has rebranded and is now known as Trussell. As a result, Southwark Foodbank have a new logo and we’ll slowly be updating our website and any merchandise or materials to reflect this. You can learn more about the Trussell new brand.
London Bridge Collections
Staff and volunteers will be at London Bridge station on Wednesday 4, 11, 18 December collecting donations for Southwark Foodbank between 8am and 9.30am. The wonderful London Oriana Choir will be performing Christmas carols. If you are in the area on those dates, please come and say hello.
Trussell x Tesco National Collection
The annual Tesco x Trussell National Collection will be taking place between Thursday 28 November and Saturday 30 November. The two Tesco superstores in the borough – Surrey Quays and Old Kent Road will have volunteers in store handing shoppers lists of Southwark Foodbank’s most needed items. This is a great opportunity to collect lots of food over a few days. If you are near any of the stores on the above dates, please pop over and say hi to the volunteers.
Christmas Carols by candlelight
This Christmas, Trussell are hosting an evening of carols at Southwark Cathedral. There will be also be inspiring stories and celebrity guests. Tickets are on sale now.
Engagement and Campaigns
Voices for Southwark is a community organising group based at Pecan speaking up to make life in Southwark easier and better for everyone. The group is made up of people who have been in touch with Southwark Foodbank and Pecan’s projects.
Voices for Southwark are currently running a campaign to make it easier for residents to access information and support with money matters. If you are interested in hearing more or getting involved, please contact Flora, our Community Engagement Officer.
At Southwark Foodbank and Pecan, we also support Trussell’s campaign for a social security system that ensures everyone can afford the essentials and is protected from hunger and hardship. At the Autumn Budget, we saw the UK government make a first step towards a more supportive social security system, introducing what it’s calling a Fair Repayment Rate in Universal Credit. Trussell recognise this isn’t the full solution to ensure people can afford essentials, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction. You can read the full response here.
Legislative Theatre
This year, Pecan and Southwark Foodbank have been learning about and practicing Legislative Theatre with Trussell. Legislative Theatre uses theatre games, scenes and discussion to understand everyday experiences of problems, and redesign rules, budgets and laws to address these problems.
In October, we held a Legislative Theatre workshop in Peckham, with members who have accessed support through Pecan’s community projects. In the workshop, we explored how to strengthen our local community through more joined up local services and social infrastructure such as community centres.
Read more here about how Trussell co-created policy solutions to end the need for foodbanks, together with members of Pecan this summer.
Southwark Food Action Alliance – SFAA
This month SFAA ran a workshop with our members. We kicked started the workshop with an introductory speech from Pecan CEO Peter Edwards, and a fun collaborative building activity (see above).
We then ran some activities generating ideas about how to best communicate and collaborate as a network, and exploring what we think are the main purposes and values of SFAA. There was also an opportunity to network over lunch at the end of the session!
The SFAA food map is an online map which signposts information on the free and low-cost food services available to the community in Southwark. It includes information on location, opening times, the type of food offered, and any extra support a service might provide. Services on the food map include foodbanks, community fridges, food pantries and more. Check it out here or click on the map.
Peckham Pantry
Peckham Pantry is a membership scheme that will make your money go further. Members of Peckham Pantry pay £4.50 per shop, which gives access to fresh fruit and veg and store cupboard favourites – to the value of £15 or more.
Peckham Pantry Steering Group
Peckham Pantry Steering Group is a group of pantry members, volunteers and staff who meet once a month to develop ideas on how to engage with pantry members and members of the wider local community.
Autumn Event
During half term, our steering group organised an autumn event outside our pantry on Peckham Park Road with seasonal treats, and crafts and games for children. Thank you to our steering group members for organising the event, and to all who came down, it was great to see you!
Plans are currently underway for our Peckham Pantry Christmas event. Please stay tuned on Instagram for updates.
If you would like to join our Steering Group, or get involved with our events, please contact Flora on 07929 999 006.
Women's Service
We provide a gender specific, trauma-informed services to women who have had contact with the criminal justice system and/or face multiple disadvantages in the community. This includes 1-2-1 advocacy, workshops and activities, weekly drop-ins and monthly hub lunches. All women (including Trans women) are welcome in our warm, welcoming, inclusive space.
A big thank you to everyone who attended our October Hub lunch.
Our festive event is on Tuesday 17 December, 11am-3pm
New Courses at the Hub
There are two new workshops underway at the Women’s Service
- Stretch and Relax, Tuesdays – 11.45am-12.45pm – an in-person movement class delivered by The Movement charity. A gentle movement class with focus on flexibility, mobility and breath. All abilities welcome!
- Creative Arts with Clean Break, Thursdays – 11am-12.45pm – Clean Break’s Creative Arts workshops will help you explore and discover the Artist inside you. We will use different types of arts-based activities, from creative writing to drama games. You don’t need any experience to join in, these workshops are for everyone!
Both of these workshops will take place at the Southwark Hub. Please note that the hub is a women-only space.
Women's Service
- Coffee Mornings: Our coffee mornings are every Tuesday and Thursday, 10.30am-12.30pm at the Southwark Hub. Here you can have a free snack, hot drink, use Wi-Fi, charge your phone, do crafts, read a magazine and have a lovely chat with our other hub members! Please note, that we do not offer casework at the drop-in, and we are not a crisis service.
- USEMI: We are continuing to host a Black Women’s Mental Health Group at the Southwark Hub every Tuesday 2.30pm-4pm. Please email womenshubs@pecan.org.uk to be referred.
- Festive Event: Women’s Service are happy to announce our Festive Event will be taking place on Tuesday 17 December, 11am-3pm at the Southwark Hub – more details to follow.
Employment Support
Employment Support: our longest running programme supports people back into work at a pace that suits them, supporting them to feel ready both with skills and knowledge as well as mentally ready to take the next step. We are currently supporting families and unpaid carers (through a Southwark Works contract).
If you are looking for support to learn or to gain employment, please contact Pecan –Employment Support team on 0207 732 0007 then select option 2 to speak with a team member. We have many short courses that can boost your chance to secure your desired job role.
New Staff at Pecan’s Employment Support
There are four new staff members that joined Employment Support this October, we welcome Natalie, Alfala, Ijeoma and Diane. You may already know Diane through her volunteer work with Pecan in our Together café and the Women’s Service.
During this month we run three different training for our clients,
- Level 3 – Emergency First Aid at Work
- Level 2 – Health and Safety
- Level 2 – Food Hygiene
We also achieved all our targets on all 3 projects that we are running. Parent and Unpaid Carer, 50+ and UKSPF.
In October, we were able to secure for clients:
- 16 jobs
- Training for 16 people
- 5 progressions (salary increase or promotion)
For further details and to register, please contact employment.support@pecan.org.uk
Together
Together is Pecan’s Community and Life-skills programme.
Together provides a range of community life skills in a relaxed environment. We also support people understanding their rights, and the chance to build new social circles. Everyone’s welcome! Activities include free café, cultural trips, creative writing classes, crafts and support to fill in online forms. We signpost onto other Pecan services and partner organisations to ensure all needs are met.
Together Christmas Party is on Monday 16 December
Since our last newsletter, we have welcomed new people into the café, which has increased our members’ list. In early December we are planning on holding a ‘NHS VITAL 5 – CHECK’ for residents. To find out more details and to register a space, please email together@pecan.org.uk
Updates
- Our Christmas Party will be held on Monday 16 December from 12-3pm. We will have Outside Edge Theatre attending too from 12 noon for a one-hour taster drama workshop. Outside Edge arranges workshops at Southwark Playhouse in Elephant & Castle. The workshop is fun and interactive helping participants to build confidence and express themselves in an inclusive and safe environment.
- We held our first Macmillan Coffee Morning. We had a quiz and a representative from Macmillan in attendance too.
- We received funding from Southwark Council to organise a programme of events for Black History Month 2024. We collaborated with local organisations and facilitators to share a curated programme of events. From the Black History Quiz with Ngozi from ‘They Did I Can Too’ to creative sessions with facilitator Alfia Brown and Bold Tendencies to film screenings and creative writing with Kunga from Adinkra Arts. Our programme was really appreciated and well received by attendees. Thank you to all our attendees and supporters.
- We are pleased to share that Together has received funding from The National Lottery Community Fund Awards for All grant. to continue the community work we do.
Black History Month 2024 in Together
Volunteer Workshop Facilitator Opportunities
We welcome individuals who would like to share their skills or expertise in volunteering in activities or workshops as a facilitator. Please contact Vashti Henry, Together Coordinator if you would like to facilitate an activity or workshop together@pecan.org.uk
Winter Events
Together Café
Every Monday and Tuesday, from 1-3pm we run a community café and warm hub. We have volunteers supporting our Together co-ordinator, and it is a welcoming and safe space.
Creative Writing #7
Our Creative Writing group finished their sixth workshop in October, and sessions will restart in January 2025.
Bread and Salt
Fridays, 10am-12pm
Facilitated by W.E.C. International, Bread & Salt continues to provide a space to visit with friends or make new ones, particularly for Arabic and Kurdish speakers partaking in English conversation with games and craft activities. Interpreters are available to create a welcoming inclusive environment with the offer of Middle Eastern coffee, tea, fruit, and cake.
Together at Pecan Membership
Pecan encourages our local community to become a member to keep abreast of our activities and participate in our free events and workshops. At the coffee mornings, there will be an opportunity to sign up to our mailing list.
Volunteers
At Pecan we have THE BEST volunteers! These fabulous people give up their time to help us provide vital services.
Clive, Driver Volunteer for Southwark Foodbank
This month/quarter we would like to shine a light on one of our amazing volunteers, Clive! Every Monday, Clive is hard at work alongside our driver, Victor, collecting donations from local supermarkets and surplus food from The Felix Project. His day doesn’t end there—Clive also helps deliver food parcels to our Monday foodbank session at Peckham Methodist Church.
Clive has been essential during this busy season, ensuring that donations make it from the shelves to those who need them most. His dedication, energy, and his positive spirit inspires us all. We are so grateful to have him as part of the Southwark Foodbank team. Thank you, Clive, for all that you do!
Wellbeing at Pecan
Staff spent their away day in September in the borough of Greenwich, away from the office, warehouse, hubs and pantry, visiting Eltham Palace and enjoying a meal at the Post Office Pub.
We organise three All Staff Away days a year, including training and at Christmas we celebrate together with our volunteers. This summer away day was simply a chance to be together – collaborating and communicating builds our safe productive workplace.
Volunteering Opportunities
Community Events & Useful Links
- PAN! Peter’s Come Out to Play | Theatre Peckham, Friday 6 December – Monday 23 December
Discover the tale of the boy who never grew up, reimagined for modern day audiences! Set in Peckham, South London, follow Wendy and Peter (along with his trusty steel pan drum!) as they journey from the streets of Peckham to the marvellous Caribbean island of Neverland. LINK - Peckham Business Forum Festive Market | Saturday 7 December, 10am-5pm, Peckham Square (outside the library) This event will create a festive trail on Rye Lane and the surrounding streets, along with a local market in Peckham. FREE LINK
- Peckham Christmas Market | Saturday 30 November & 1 December, 11am-5pm, Copeland Park SE15
Art, ceramics, jewellery, stationery, homewares and so much more – there will be something for everyone! FREE LINK - All Saints Peckham: What’s on: LINK
- Winter Market, Southbank | until 26 December 2024
Pop-up bars, street food stalls and independent craft traders, along the Southbank. LINK - Southwark Cathedral Christmas events: LINK
- Peckham Library book group | Last Thursday of every month
Time: 7pm to 8pm, contact: peter.holzmann@southwark.gov.uk Peckham Library afternoon book group | Last Friday of every month
Time: 1pm to 2pm, contact: amy.france@southwark.gov.ukPeckham Library shades of black authors book club | Fourth Friday of every month Time: 6pm to 7.30pm, contact: joanna.wimalasuriya@southwark.gov.uk
Peckham Levels: What’s happening November – December 2024 – LINK
Peckhamplex: Peckham’s community cinema: LINK
Rivoli: Christmas Films and Events at the Rivoli Ballroom – LINK
