NEWS - FiSH Neighbourhood Care

Coffee Morning at Rick Stein Barnes
FiSH and the area’s top seafood restaurant proved to be a terrific combination on Wednesday 6th February. That’s when Rick Stein Barnes hosted a coffee morning to raise funds for FiSH Neighbourhood Care. Huge thanks to Paul Hough, General Manager and all his team for making us so welcome. Over 70 attended to consume coffee and cake and support the ‘FISHY’ raffle which included some super prizes including a voucher from Rick Stein, a lobster from The Barnes FiSH Shop, a luxury hamper and other goodies. The event raised a grand total of £786! Thank you to everyone who attended and made the event a success.

Jenny Hughes receives BEM in New Year Honours List

We are thrilled to announce that Jenny Hughes has been awarded a British Empire Medal in the New Year’s Honours List.

Having originally trained as a dancer and choreographer, Jenny was an inspirational and creative leader who masterminded the growth and development of FiSH. She became FiSH’s first paid part-time employee in 2001. Inspired by her drive and creativity, the range of services offered by FiSH widened dramatically under her leadership. New activities included, group shopping trips and outings, a choir, a bridge club, a walking group, dance sessions led inspired by Rambert, the very popular Tuesday Talks, monthly lunchtime concerts, the FiSH ‘Coffee Corner’ social listening group and a regular club for those with memory loss. Jenny was instrumental in raising money to acquire the FiSH minibuses which work daily to connect people with these activities.

Jenny is a well-known and highly respected figure in the charity sector in the Borough of Richmond upon Thames. She retired as Director in February 2018 but continues working with FiSH as a volunteer and in an ambassadorial and advisory role as one of FiSH’s Vice Presidents.

Jenny says “I have loved working for this very special organisation. Over the years, I have been grateful to many people in the community and local organisations who have supported, advised and encouraged me in building FiSH from where it was when I joined, to what it is today. I have valued the opportunity to meet and work with so many wonderful FiSH volunteers who do the real work of the organisation in delivering its mission. Most of all I have been able to work alongside a fantastic team of totally dedicated staff. I am grateful to them all, this Honour would not be possible without all these wonderful people.”

Crispin O’Brien, the Chair of the Board of Trustees says, “Jenny’s well-deserved BEM comes, not just from her outstanding achievements as Director of FiSH, but also from her personal commitment as an exemplary volunteer and her ability to convert innovative ideas into practical services which genuinely help the elderly. Combating loneliness has been a lifelong campaign for Jenny, going back as far as 1982 when she became a care worker at Southwark Crossroads. She has enriched the lives of so many of the older and vulnerable residents of Barnes, Mortlake and East Sheen.”

Bus Drivers Wanted!
Do you love driving? Would you like free training to drive a modern accessible minibus (15 seater)? Would you consider driving for FiSH Neighbourhood Care, based in Barnes, providing an important service to senior members in our community?

We are looking for more volunteer drivers for some individual outings and events and also to employ a paid driver for up to two days per week to collect and deliver clients from home to the Barnes Green Centre (by Barnes Pond), take them on supermarket trips and help with regular outings.

Knowledge of the Barnes, Sheen and Mortlake areas would be helpful but not essential. Payment terms for employed driver on application. Driving licences must have D1 category. Excellent training is provided by Richmond & Kingston Accessible Transport (RaKAT) in New Malden.

For more information or to apply please contact Deborah Carter, Transport Coordinator by email or on 020 8876 3765.

Barclays staff walking from Billingsgate to Barnes to fundraise for FISH
The Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics Team at Barclays Corporate Banking in Canary Wharf did a half marathon fundraising walk for FiSH on Monday 29th October. Some 20 individuals left East London at 08:00 and when they reach Barnes at lunchtime dropped into the Retro Café at St Michael and All Angels to help our volunteers. Led by Nikki Barrington, our ace fundraiser and marathon runner, the team challenged themselves to raise £3,000. If you wish to sponsor them, their Virgin Money Giving page is still live.

Queen's Award for Voluntary Service
The FiSH team made up of Micky Forster, Liz Wall, Sally Godstone, Shena Macdonald, Deidre Munro and Steve Chapman were delighted to represent the charity at a special presentation event for QAVS Winners from Greater London, kindly hosted by RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) at their London office in Bishopsgate on Tuesday 11th September 2018.

Micky collected the award from Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE, The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK and recognises the importance of our work with older people in Barnes, Mortlake and East Sheen to combat loneliness and social isolation. FiSH were among twenty winners of the Award in Greater London this year.

FiSH Neighbourhood Care was delighted to receive a £250 charitable donation from Sceon + Berne, the East Sheen estate agent, following a recent property sale. This property company operates a community scheme to help local good causes whereby on each and every sale they donate £250 to the local charity of the vendor’s choice.

Sceon + Berne’s wonderful way of ‘giving back’, costs the person selling nothing and benefits local charities. Win-win all around. We are extremely grateful to the vendor for thinking of FiSH and would like to take this opportunity to wish them all the very best in their new home.

Big thanks to Sceon + Berne for this very kind donation which will help us combat loneliness and social isolation in older and vulnerable people living in Barnes, Mortlake and East Sheen. We will use this gift to train volunteers to befriend people in their homes, offering support and friendship.

David McKenna, director Sceon + Berne presenting a cheque for £250 to Micky Forster, Director FiSH Neighbourhood Care

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FiSH Helpline
Our Helpline is open Monday to Friday from 09:00-12:00. Please do make use of this by calling 020 8876 3414 if you need help with transport for medical or social appointments or if you need some shopping done. Although we cannot help with personal care, we can help with simple things around the home like replacing light bulbs, occasional gardening tasks or at other times when you just need a useful helping hand. Please call as early as possible in the day and, for medical appointments, please try and give us at least two days’ notice.

Popular art therapy programme to continue
FiSH Neighbourhood Care is stepping in with funding to enable the popular art workshops delivered by Picassos in the Park to carry on in Barnes. The workshops, which are open to people living with early stage dementia and their carers, will now continue this summer and offer participants a chance to be creative together. Classes will run on Tuesdays from 1:30pm to 3:30pm from 5th June to 17th July at the OSO Arts Centre. To find out more or book a place, please contact Liz on 020 8878 8100 or by email.

Dame Mary Peters
On Tuesday July 3rd Dame Mary Peters, Olympian and first lady of British athletics, spoke at our Tuesday Talk and was then interviewed in the evening by sports journalist Vassos Alexander at the OSO. At this fundraising event for FiSH, the audience enthusiastically relived her gold medal winning triumph at the Munich Olympics in 1972. We are extremely grateful to Mary for entertaining and inspiring us as well as raising over £1400 for FISH. Huge thanks also to everyone who supported the event and to the OSO for hosting it.
As well as her amazing sports career as an athlete, team manager and ambassador, Mary has her own charitable trust - the Mary Peters' Trust which helps young sports people in Northern Ireland achieve their potential. You can find out more about this at: http://marypeterstrust.org/