FACE at The Furzedown Festival 2018

We had an amazing time at The Furzedown Festival in June, both with our stalls at the amazing Big Day Out on Saturday 16th June and at our Garden Gig on Friday 22nd June, we have also been busy selling garden plants at the weekends.

The Big Day Out was lots of fun with a theme being The Summer of Love; it was cloudy but warm and the rain stayed away, there were cake competitions, donkey rides, games, sports, dancing and music. There was delicious foods (with long long queues for Honest Burgers) and wonderful Chateau Toots from Urban Wine plus The Love Shack with beer from The Rose & Crown.

We sold most of our lovely Heyland & Whittle stock – which is donated, so 100% goes to our charities, and had a very successful plant sale.

Our Garden Gig was unforgettable with amazing music to enjoy in Alan & Julia Feast’s beautiful garden – Thanks to the performances of Graveney Music, Margo Random and Jennifer Owens.

FACE Garden Gig 2018

Our fabulous Garden Gig is part of the Furzedown Festival’s Summer of Love and will be a great chance to relax in a beautiful garden and listen to amazing singers and musicians while enjoying a delicious gourmet BBQ (BYO drinks & glasses).

Starring popular R&B jazz singer Margo Random, Andrew Holdsworth, Graveney Music Saxophone trio and drummer and the incredibly talented Jennifer Owens: https://youtu.be/BsRj6BBIARk

On Friday 22nd June from 7 to 10pm in a lovely private garden in Furzedown. Tickets are £15 and expected to sell out fast – raising money for local causes like the South London MNDA, St Georges Hospital and the Furzedown Foodbank.

Contact Alan on 07973 216260 or email alan@feast.me.uk

Dr Rosena opens TYA chill-out room

For over 5 years FACE has been supporting the development of a special unit in St Georges that will uplift the experiences of children and young adults while they are in hospital being treated for cancer, by creating a special zone for relaxation, communication, and enjoyment. A specialist nurse advocate (funded by MacMillan Nurses) will be based in the room to support young people.

The chill-out room was officially opened on 18th September by our local MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan with St George’s staff, governers and members of FACE – it was great to hear from a young patient about how much this will mean to them and staff who will be working there.

 

This was only possible thanks to all the fundraising efforts locally; including Graveney School and FCN. This successful outcome demonstrates what a caring and brilliant community we live in. By uniting efforts from individuals, families, schools, organisations, and enterprises in and around Furzedown we can make such a difference and have helped make this dream become a reality.

Please read more in the official press release HERE

Checking out the chill-out room!

We are delighted to announce that on Monday 19 June 2017 the chill-out room for young people with cancer opened at St George’s Hospital. We were delighted to come to see the room and meet Nikki, the TYA nurse who will be using this room as a base for counselling and therapeutic activities.

Please read St George’s press statement here:

https://www.stgeorgeshospitalcharity.org.uk/news/latest-news/post/158-new-room-for-young-people-with-cancer-

 Over 6 years we have raised almost £20,000 to enable St George’s Hospital transform a small tatty staff room into a relaxing oasis for young people with cancer, as well as being a base for Nikki, a specialist nurse (funded by Macmillan Nurses) who will provide support and therapeutic activities – which we are hoping to support in the future.

This has only been possible thanks to the support of Furzedown neighbours, local schools, businesses and friends. Including the generous donations from Heyland & Whittle, plus fundraising and support from Graveney School and FCN.

There will be a full opening later in the year

Our Great Big 2017 Garden Gig

We had a fantastic fundraising Garden Gig last night.

Over 100 people of all ages came to enjoy the music and perform on a beautiful sunny Wednesday night. The evening started with the Uka-ladies sing-a-long which was great fun, then the very talented pupils from Graveney music department entertained us with classical music, jazz, and songs from soloists and a wonderful new girl’s choir. Finally the FAB FWB (Furzedown Wind-Breakers) treated us to their debut performance to close the show.

There was a delicious BBQ featuring beer-basted chicken (thanks to Alan Feast’s Big Green Egg) followed by strawberries.

It was a great success – thanks to everyone who came – we raised nearly £1000 to help local causes like St George’s Hospital, South London MNDA, Furzedown Project minibus and Furzedown Youth Club.

Looking forward to more fun at the Big Day Out on 17 June!

#GreatGetTogether

St George’s Chill-out room launches!

We are delighted to announce that on Monday 19 June the chill-out room for young people with cancer will be opening at St George’s Hospital.

Over 6 years we have raised almost £20,000 to enable St George’s Hospital transform a small tatty staff room into a relaxing oasis for young people with cancer, as well as being a base for a specialist nurse (funded by Macmillan Nurses) who will provide support and therapeutic activities – which we are hoping to support in the future.

This has only been possible thanks to the support of Furzedown neighbours, local schools, businesses and friends. Including the generous donations from Heyland & Whittle, plus fundraising and support from Graveney School and FCN.

We have held many events, including our popular FACE Quiz Nights, Garden Gigs, Arthur Smith’s Comedy night, Valuation Days and The FACE Ball and we’ve sold lovely Heyland & Whittle products, bric-a-brac and plants at local events. Plus our raffles have offered fantastic prizes, including holidays!

Looking forward to updating everyone after the night!

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside

Furzedown’s Big Day Out is on Saturday 17 June and has a fantastic seaside theme. We’re looking forward to being part of it , selling Heyland & Whittle half-price goodies and lots of lovely plants as well as having a Garden Gig.

More details soon!

Haha-halleluja

Together with FCN we held a funtastic fundraising night with Arthur Smith & his Smithereens doing their own unique take on Leonard Cohen.

Arthur (AKA the 2nd best Leonard Cohen tribute in Balham) lives locally in Balham and was delighted to support FACE and FCN (Furzedown Community Network) with this show. His reflections on dementia, enthusiasm, comedy and death were marinated in Cohen’s music in a performance that was personal and poignant, yet packed with big laughs.

Smith’s rendition of the songs was hugely enhanced by his beautiful backing trio, The Smithereens: Kirsty Newton, Carrie Marx and Ali Day, plus a very energetic bit of dancing.

It was a great venue at Chestnut Grove Academy and the tickets were sold out well in advance, the bar was very busy and there was also a raffle to win great prizes which were drawn at the end of the evening

• a ‘Taste of Tooting’ Hamper with Graveney Gin, Chateau Tooting, Tooting honey and preserves plus other Tootastic treats
• a hand-made Furzedown window box planted with Spring flowers
• Cheese and wine
• Arthur Smith’s signed autobiography – My name is Daphne Fairfax

The money raised will help FCN keep this year’s Big Day Out event FREE and FACE will be helping local charities including opening a chill-out room for young people with cancer in St George’s Hospital early this year.

Thanks to everyone who came – looking forward to the next event!

Furzedown Comedy Night with Arthur Smith

Arthur Smith sings Leonard Cohen comedy event

Enjoy his celebrated Edinburgh hit – Arthur Smith sings Leonard Cohen – a fantastic event to look forward to on Saturday 21 January 2017

A critical and word-of-mouth hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013, Arthur Smith Sings Leonard Cohen, is a love letter to his mother with reflections on life, death, dementia and Leonard Cohen along the way.

Arthur lives locally in Balham and is delighted to support FACE and FCN with this show. His reflections on dementia, enthusiasm, comedy and death are marinated in Cohen’s music in a performance that is personal and poignant, yet packed with big laughs. Smith’s rendition of the songs is hugely enhanced by his backing trio, The Smithereens: Kirsty Newton, Carrie Marx and Ali Day.

Tickets are on sale now (with reduced rates for FCN members) from events@furzedown.net there is limited availability so please book early to avaoid dissapointment

Watch a clip of Arthur’s show here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ors5xGaFF2I

Merry & Bright!

Furzedown enjoyed a wonderful Christmas event on Saturday 17 December, with Moyser Road being closed for all the fantastic stalls selling local produce and gifts – from Graveney Gin to EA Wates – lovely crafts in Sprout, including Jane’s nice knits and our Heyland & Whittle stall was so popular that we sold out!

It was great to see the Wandsworth Mayor Cllr Richard Field at our stall and the streets were packed with neighbours having a lovely time. Big thanks to Furzedown Community Network FCN.

We raised over £1500 which will be going to local causes, including St Georges, where the chill-out room for young people with cancer is now being built, thanks to people supporting events like this.

We also started selling tickets for the Arthur Smith comedy night – a joint venture between FACE and FCN – something to look forward to in January2017! For tickets email events@furzedown.net today