Festive cheer

Wow - we had a great evening on Wednesday - two dozen gifts donated, wrapped and labelled ready for the Bohemia's Christmas dinner for older people from local nursing homes.

Thanks to all who came, donated and made it such a success. We filled the front part of the pub, sparked some interesting conversations with other customers and will hopefully make a small but real difference in the lives of the old folks who get one of the presents.

Here's a few snaps from the evening...

   

 

JM Weekly Update

Hello friends

Its that time again - the third Wednesday in the month, which can only mean that it's time to get together for another cafe session. This will be our final session in the Rough Guide to being an Ordinary Radical season (though not the last session of term, don't worry! More on that below.) As trailed last week, this week we have Ash Chafe coming to speak on his experience of life as an ordinary radical living on Strawberry Vale - be sure to come along and hear what he has to say! 

That's 7:30pm this Wednesday at Coffee Republic in North Finchley. Come early, grab a coffee and a pasty and meet someone new.

Don't forget that we gave you two challenges last month - to adopt a new ordinary radical habit and to invite someone along to this session. We look forward to seeing how you've done! In all seriousness, we are eager to see JM grow further - we want to fill Coffee Republic with members (and Raj's till with enough takings that we can further reduce our room hire costs), so please do get out and spread the word!

Speaking of getting out, some of us spent yesterday out of our comfort zones at Brent Cross. Read more about what we were doing and why in the post below.

I'd also like to flag up another opportunity to do something practical - we are partnering with The Bohemia to provide gifts and Christmas dinners to some of the older people of Finchley. The idea is simple: buy a gift for an older lady or gent, bring it along to our next pub session (5th December) and we'll spend the evening wrapping them up. There are more details below. This is an excellent opportunity to support a local business, invest in our community and raise our visibility, not to mention to bring festive cheer to some senior citizens. We'd love for all of you to get involved with this, so get thinking about what you might give...

That's all for now - have a great week, y'all!

Sam and Victoria, Elaine, Sara, Lizzie

Festive cheer

Justice Matters is excited to be partnering with Finchley's favourite new watering hole, The Bohemia, to provide gifts and a Christmas dinner for isolated older people in the Finchley area.

The idea is simple: buy a gift for an older lady or gent (recommended £10 max) and then bring it along to The Bohemia on the 5th December where we will gather from 8pm to wrap the gifts together. If you aren't able to buy a gift, you can pay for a meal ticket (£7 each). Simpls.

We are also waiting to hear back from Wandsworth Prison about the option of sending gifts to the children of prisoners through Prison Fellowship. We'll confirm this option and further details ASAP.

Bringing joy to dark places

While it is definitely too early to be thinking about Christmas (though Tesco and others don't seem to have got the memo), it could be worth thinking about getting behind this fantastic campaign already...

"Sadly, there will also be children in the UK who won’t enjoy the basic luxuries a cosy family home; they will be spending Christmas in a refuge, having escaped domestic abuse – often with few of their toys, games or clothes from the home they have fled. Which is why domestic violence charity Refuge – Red’s partners in the Speak Up Save A Life campaign – run an annual Christmas Present appeal.

Every year, Refuge try to ensure that every woman and child in their refuges receive a minimum of two to three presents each to unwrap on Christmas day. As Refuge say, 'The Christmas gift initiative is vital to ensure that refuges became places of joy on a day that has the potential to very bleak and hard.'

The charity have a gift list at John Lewis for the appeal so it could not be simpler. You can go as small as a counting block for £2.99, to as big as a pair of roller blades for £40. Whatever you pick, you will know that there’s a child in a refuge somewhere who will have a present to open on Christmas morning – thanks to you."

(Source: Red Online - John Lewis Refuge gift list)

In addition, the Prison Ministry at St Barnabas Church is also running the Angel Tree Project again this year - another opportunity to bring light and hope to dark places this winter. We'll share more details about this opportunity as and when we know more.