NEWS AND EVENTS
Upcoming dates for your diary...
February 6th: Book Group at Hornsey Library 11am to 12.30pm
February 8th: Older People's Partnership Board, Civic Centre, High Road, Wood Green, N22 10am to 12pm
February 10th: HPG collection at Euston Network Rail Station
February 15th: HPG collection at Sainsbury's Wood Green
February 20th: HPG Management Committee Meeting, Winkfield Resource Centre 12pm
February 24th: HPG collection at Green Park Underground Station
What's happened so far...
January 13th: HPG volunteer, Shelagh Edge, is the guest speaker at today's visual impairment awareness training session at the Winkfield Resource Centre. She talks about her own personal experience of sight loss and the challenges that face anyone with a visual impairment. It is the first session in this term's programme for fourth year medical students at London University, who have just completed their ophthalmology module.
January 4th: World Braille Day celebrates the birthday of Louis Braille, who invented the world-famous system of reading and writing used by people who are blind or partially sighted. Barbara Kiers, who learnt Braille as a child at Royal London Society for the Blind's Dorton House School, has been teaching Braille classes at the Phoenix Group for the last eight years. With her is class member and local DJ, Dowaine Daley.
December 19th: Ruth Cherrington, who took over as the new Development Officer for the Haringey Forum for Older People in October, comes to meet us and have a cup of tea at the Phoenix Group. We look forward to a long and happy relationship!
December 3rd: More than sixty HPG members, family and friends enjoy the annual Phoenix Christmas Dinner complete with all the trimmings. This year, for the first time, it is held at the Alfred Herring Public House in Palmer's Green.
November 21st: Haringey Phoenix Group AGM in the Games Room at the Winkfield Resource Centre. Jagdish Tank and Claire Lea are re-elected Chair and Vice Chair. Dave Kent, Information Officer for Guide Dogs, is the guest speaker, aided and abetted by his canine friend, Quince.
November 7th: Open Book Group celebrates its second birthday at Hornsey Library in Crouch End - with the help of a beautiful birthday cake, kindly donated by Dunn's Bakery. It is a large Victoria Sponge with 'Happy Birthday' spelled out in Braille.
October 25th: It's a Red Letter Day for Peter Garland, tutor in the weekly pottery and arts and crafts classes. He wins the Bonus Ball sweepstake for the second time this month with lucky numbers 27 and 41!
October 17th: Joint Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Low Vision Services Committee meets at Park Avenue Disabilities Centre in Enfield. Guest speaker is Sue Rowen, Guide Dogs' Information Officer for the south east, who talks about future strategy and community engagement.
October 12th: HPG members and staff team up with Lorna Rowe, Customer Service Manager, and Fatema Begum, Commercial Manager, at Sainsbury's Wood Green on another fund raising day.
October 10th: Haringey's Deputy Mayor, Councillor David Browne, meets HPG Vice Chair, Claire Lea, and Neil Harvey, of Haringey Libraries, at a Newly Registered/Resource Day at the Winkfield Centre, organised by the Low Vision Services Committee.
September 27th: Volunteer Alan Grech gets a rousing send off from the Arts and Crafts class as he leaves the Haringey Phoenix Group for pastures new. Thank you, Alan, for all your hard work and kindness. We will miss you so much. Please come back soon!.
September 22nd: D Day for the Haringey Talking Newspaper as it is recorded digitally for the very first time! Many thanks to Thornton's Budgen's 'Pennies for Plastic' fund who made a generous donation to help with the cost of the new digital recording and copying equipment. Listeners can now receive the Talking Newspaper on memory sticks as well as audio cassettes..
September 16th: Tom Stapleton with Haringey Phoenix members and volunteers open the new Tesco Express store on the corner of Winkfield Road and Lordship Lane. Manager, Daniel Tekeste, presents a cheque to Jagdish Tank (Chair of HPG)..
August 11th: Members of HPG's Open Book Group are treated to a special tour of the RNIB Studios in Camden Town by manager, Daryl Chapman. He shows them round the state of the art recording suites where actors and engineers are hard at work producing Talking Books. The RNIB National Library Service operates a postal library service offering unabridged Talking Books on digital CDs (DAISY format). www.rnib.org.uk/reading.
August 8th: Dave and the Gardening Class enjoy a day out in 30 acres of beautiful gardens surrounding the Georgian Manor House and Victorian Stables at Capel Manor in Enfield. It is London's only specialised College for those interested in plants, animals and the environment. The wide variety of different horticultural styles includes a Sensory Garden, a Family Friendly Garden, an Italianate Maze and a Japanese Garden. Highly recommended. www.capelmanorgardens.co.uk.
August 8th: HPG sets up its stall selling handicrafts at Sainsbury's Wood Green and holds a collection as part of its year-long Local Charity Partnership. Each year the store chooses a different local charity to support and to help with fund raising in a variety of ways. Last year it was Action for Kids - this year it's the Haringey Phoenix Group! www.sainsburys.co.uk.
July 26th: More than a hundred Haringey Phoenix Group members enjoy the annual Summer Barbecue on a sunny afternoon in the gardens of the Winkfield Centre, Wood Green. Sizzling kebabs are served up by Tom and his team and the Tombola does a roaring trade. But the main attraction is The Grand Raffle with one of HPG's patrons, Pat Payne, presenting the prizes.
June 28th: Sainsbury's Wood Green chooses the Haringey Phoenix Group as its Local Charity Partner of the Year. The staff will hold a series of fund raising events and Phoenix will be organising collection days and visual impairment awareness raising sessions in conjunction with the store.
June 27th: Zoe, from City and Islington College, is coming to the end of her six-month work experience placement with the Haringey Phoenix Group. She has been helping with the gardening and pottery classes on Mondays. She is off to Glasgow University in September. We'll miss her and wish her the best of luck!.
June 19th: Joe Churcher, who lives in Crouch End and has an eye condition known as Retinitis Pigmentosa, does a training walk in the Malvern Hills in preparation for his trek across Iceland in July. He will be doing this with a team of seven other people to raise money for research into RP www.justgiving.com/joe-churcher.
June 18th: Phoenix volunteers run a stall at the Fair in the Square in Highgate. Pottery and handicrafts made by Phoenix members are on sale - as well as Braille greetings cards made by Braille teacher, Barbara Kiers. Esat Mentesh demonstrates his prowess at basket making and Dowayne Daley shows off his skills at ragging.
June 13th-19th: National Eye Health Week, organised by Vision Matters. The Phoenix Group runs information stalls at Wood Green, Hornsey and Marcus Garvey Libraries - as well as the North Middlesex Hospital www.visionmatters.org.uk.
June 7th: We welcome back Fiona, who volunteered for the Phoenix Group in the summer of 2007 when she was a student at Woodhouse College. She has come back to help in the Arts and Crafts and Computer classes - and to learn Braille! She is now graduating from Queen Mary's College, University of London, and is hoping to do a one-year diploma in Health Care.
May 17th: The local Safer Transport Team, based at St Anne's Police Station in Tottenham, visits the Phoenix Group today. Community Support Officers talk to members of the Arts and Crafts class about the issues surrounding travelling by public transport. They will be arranging a journey by underground from Wood Green to Moorfields Eye Hospital in City Road to show what help is available for visually impaired people travelling by tube.
May 13th: A new cookery course, organised by Deborah Watton of the Royal London Society for the Blind, starts at the Winkfield Resource Centre, Wood Green. The RLSB provides education, training and employment services for people who are blind or partially sighted. Guest speaker at the first session in the ten-week course is Maxine Turkington, who has Stargardt's disease and is author of 'Cooking for VIPs - A Cookery Book for the Visually Impaired'. www.rlsb.org.uk
May 11th: Phoenix members take part in the 'Hardest Hit' march along the Embankment to the Palace of Westminster, protesting about the proposed changes to benefits in the new Welfare Reform Bill going through Parliament. They lobby David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, in Portcullis House and Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, in Methodist Central Hall.
May 3rd: The newly formed Alexandra Women's Institute, for women of all ages who live in Muswell Hill, Crouch End and Highgate, chooses the Haringey Phoenix Group as its local charity. The WI, which meets every month at CUFOS in Muswell Hill, will support the Phoenix Group in a variety of ways, including fund raising. www.thealexandrawi.webs.com
April 18th: Joint Haringey, Enfield and Barnet Low Vision Committee meets at the Winkfield Centre, chaired by Veronica Groves. Guest speakers, Tracy Riddell of Action for Blind People and Phil Ambler of UK Vision Strategy are guest speakers.
April 11th: Some examples of glazed pottery made by Phoenix members for their stall at the 'Fair in the Square' in Highgate Village on June 18th. Other items for sale will include trays, baskets, jewellery, rugs, stools and chairs.
April 4th: The Haringey Phoenix Group expands today, taking over another portacabin at the Winkfield Centre. This will provide a much needed committee room, waiting area and also make more room for busy classes, such as Arts and Crafts.
March 25th: Phoenix members collect at South Kensington underground station as part of their fortnightly fundraising programme which covers London's tube and overground stations, as well as local supermarkets. A successful day means much-needed funds to supplement HPG's regular income.
March 24th: Phoenix Treasurer, Nan Wise, who has been a volunteer for more than 15 years, celebrates her birthday at the Winkfield Centre with the Talking Newspaper team. Happy Birthday, Nan!.
March 22nd: Maggie Govender, who runs the Phoenix Keep-Fit class each week, is honoured in the Enfield 'Celebrating Sports' Awards 2011. She wins second prize in the 'Coach of the Year' competition, which is supported and presented by Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
March 15th: Four Year 10 students from Hornsey School for Girls have chosen HPG as their local charity in the Youth Philanthropy Initiative this year. They make a successful presentation in the first round, which is held today, and will go on to the finals on Tuesday April 5th.
February 24th: Volunteers Party at the Alfred Herring, Palmers Green. As a thank-you to all its volunteers, and the time and effort they give so generously, Phoenix treats them to a delicious lunch. Forty-two people attend, taking the chance to not only enjoy the hospitality but also catch up with fellow volunteers who they wouldn't normally meet.
February 14th: Spring is coming! Phoenix gardeners start preparing the vegetable and flower beds for the year to come. Let's hope it's a good one and we can do ourselves justice in 'Haringey in Bloom'.
February 11th: Sue Rowen of Guide Dogs for the Blind is the guest speaker at today's visual impairment awareness training for fourth year medical students at London University. Tom Stapleton joins some of the students as they try out the new Simspex, kindly donated by Phoenix member, Shelagh Edge.
February 10th: Phoenix Group members, including Jagdish Tank (Chair), Antonio Neto and Nick Buzzard, lobby David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, at Portcullis House, Westminster, about the new Welfare Reform Bill. They concentrate, in particular, on proposed changes to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) which will put a time limit of 12 months on this benefit.
February 4th: Phoenix Group members, including Barbara Kiers and Nick Buzzard, lobby Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, at her surgery about the new Welfare Reform Bill. They discuss their grave concerns about proposed changes to both Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Incapacity Benefit (IB). Lynne agrees to write to Maria Miller MP, Minister for Disabled People, passing on these concerns..
January 24th: Loretta Hadjikoumi, a first year Social Health and Development student from Barnet College, does a week's work experience at the Phoenix Group. 'When I arrived I didn't know what was in store,' she says, 'but I have learned so much. I got on with everyone really well - both the staff and the members - and I enjoyed all the classes and activities. I will miss everyone dearly!'.
January 14th: The Phoenix Group runs a visual impairment awareness training session for postgraduate medical students at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead in conjunction with Guide Dogs for the Blind. Dave Kent, assisted by his guide dog, Quince, gives the keynote speech.
January 13th: RNIB Campaigners' Cuts Watch Event 2011 focusses on changes to Disability Living Allowance, the Welfare Reform Bill and Employment Support Allowance. Delegates get up-to-the-minute briefings from RNIB's parliamentary team on campaigning strategies to protect the independence and benefits of blind and partially sighted people..