Fantasic news for VCC recently when Sainsbury's Forest Hill confirmed it wished to extend being VCC's charity partner into 2012.

VCC managed to have a number of runners participate in the London 10K race on July 10th in Central London.

Some were staff, some supporters and one came from Sainsbury's Forest Hill. The runners all raised some much needed funds for VCC and all completed the race in very respectable times.

It is not too late to sponsor the runners post event. You can do this either through contacting the office or through Just Text Giving by tetxing VCCF01 followed by £1, £2, £5 or £10 and sending the text message to 70070.

Please see pictures below of some of our runners. We are very grateful to all those that ran



We hope to be participating in the 10k race next year 2012 as well.

VCC once again took a selected number of clients and staff to Kew gardens this summer on July 6th 2011.

Stephen Oldfield the new Driving Scheme Coordinator ensured a wonderful day was had by all who visited.

July 2nd 2011 saw VCC Volunteers and Staff man a booth at Blythe Hill Festival to raise awareness and funds for VCC. Thank you to one and all for your support at this event.

On June 25th our neighbours in Forest Hill were very generous that day by supporting VCC and donating or enquiring about the work of VCC.

The Volunteers present on the day said that they enjoyed the public interest and support. VCC have collection cups located at the customer services desk and at each till within the Forest Hill store.

On Sunday June 5th VCC held a Big Tea Party at St Saviours Church, Brockley Rise. The date was chosen as it was the official Big Lunch Day celebrated nationally normally with a series of street parties where all attendees bring along refreshments to share. Coincidentally this year Big Lunch Day fell within National Volunteers week.

VCC wished to thank the many volunteers who were able to attend and bring refreshments and also the many that were unable to attend. It was a nice afternoon where old friends were able to catch up and new acquaintances were made.

It would not have been possible for the event to be as successful as it was, had it not been for both the kind donation of jams received from Fraser Doherty of SuperJam, Sainsbury's Forest Hill who donated some of the refreshments and St Saviours allowed VCC to use the Church all at no cost as part of their objective of expanding the use of the church premises by as much of the community as possible.

Last year VCC helped 1450 over the Christmas period through the VCC Christmas Project.

Yes, it is that time again and yes we are starting our appeal in August (we need all this time and more!).At this time of year, VCC staff are busy planning Christmas activities to help individuals and families with hampers, toys and food vouchers and supporting a local church to host a Christmas Day lunch and activities.

If you are interested in volunteering to help with the Christmas Project as a driver or as a hamper & present sorter please do get in touch with the VCC.

VCC are now on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

VCC are happy to announce that they are also on Virgin Money Giving should anyone wish to participate in a fundraising event and collect online sponsorship.

Further they are also able to accept donations through Just Text Giving their campaign code is VCCF01.
Or you can make a donation to VCC using paypal, pay your VCC subscriptions or support VCC through a number of fundraising initiatives as outlined on the recently updated fundraising pages.

The VCC AGM 2011 was held at the Grove Centre on June 23rd. For those who missed it the Annual Report was submitted, it will be available on the VCC website shortly but paper copies are available by contacting the VCC.

For the first time the meeting was recorded and highlights of the meeting have been uploaded to VCC's own YouTube Channel, the idea behind this has been that some people who are interested are not able to physically attend the AGM and so the idea was that people could find out about us and what has been going on.

This year VCC had Deidre Mason, HOPRA President come and give a speech about her attempts to engage with her local community in South London.

The VCC AGM is on June 23rd 2011 at the Grove Centre in Jews Walk, Sydenham. The meeting starts at 7.30 until 10pm.

Sainsbury's Forest Hill has taken up the mantle of fundraising for VCC and has so far initiated 2 fundraising events for VCC.

VCC had a very successful Big Tea Party held at St Saviours Church, Brockley Rise on June 5th 2011 as part of Volunteer's Week where they were able to thank their current volunteers and try and recruit new volunteers.

VCC has initiated a media campaign for additional volunteer gardeners and drivers. If you are interested in doing either, please do get in touch on 020 8291 1747 or email info@voluntarycarecentre.co.uk.

VCC are taking up to 20 clients to Kew Gardens on July 6th 2011. If you are interested in attending, please get in touch either via email at info@voluntarycarecentre.co.uk or by calling 020 8291 1747.

Blythe Hill Festival 2nd July, VCC will be present with a stall representing the various aspects of volunteering with VCC to the local community.

VCC are about to attempt to increase its media profile, with a presence on Facebook and using new media to help fundraise and gain publicity, donors and sponsors.

A new VCC fundraising section is to be launched on our website shortly. Please see what you can do to help us help you.

A new VDS Coordinator has been appointed – Stephen Oldfield. We welcome Stephen who joined VCC in May 2011.

VCC are currently running the second series of the Stepping Stones in Lewisham programme for 2011. The third programme will begin in September.

VCC will be present in-store at Sainsbury's Forest Hill on Saturday 25th June. Please do come along to show your support.

Sarah (VCC Coordinator) recently sent us this Photograph and she tells us that she and Billy are both doing well. They are enjoying swimming lessons, fitness classes for new mums, social groups, baby massage and the little screamers club (with regular trips to the cinema for parents with babies under a year).


Sarah Thompson and smiley baby Billy
Sarah said "Billy is generally a happy baby who is always chattering, giggling, but sometimes screaming! It is hard work adapting to being parents, but Joss and I are totally enthralled with Billy as he seems to be with us too; it really is incredible being parents".

Sarah went on to say "I am missing the regular contact with service users, volunteers and staff and hope that everyone is doing really well. I look forward to catching up with everyone later in the year"

Whilst Sarah is on maternity leave, please direct your enquiries to the emails below:
evelyn@voluntarycarecentre.co.uk or info@voluntarycarecentre.co.uk

The VCC was one of the charities recently shortlisted by Sainsburys Forest Hill to be their Charity Partner of the year, and after delivering a presentation at the Store back in July, we were delighted to hear that we had been selected.

Evelyn Brady (VCC Centre Manager) says "I was absolutely thrilled when the confirmation came through; it is really fantastic that our good work in the local community should be recognised and valued in this way. I am really looking forward to working with the Sainsbury's team in both promoting and fundraising for our services".

Jo-Anna Chin (HR Manager Sainsbury's Forest Hill) says "Sainsbury's Forest Hill are pleased to announce that the Voluntary Care Centre has been chosen as our local charity partner of the year. Over the next 12 months, the charity will benefit from money donated through fundraising as well as time given by Sainsburys colleagues as volunteers. It was chosen by the colleagues, as the stores charity, after being short listed from nominations which poured in from customers. Colleagues at the store were particularly taken with the amount and diversity of the support the charity gave to local residents in the area and are pleased and proud to be supporting them. We hope to raise awareness of the valuable work carried out by such a worthy charity over the next 12 months. Look out in store for further details of upcoming events."

Since June 2010 the VCC Centre has been working in partnership with the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLAM) at their Deptford drop-ins based at 32-34 Watson Street. The drop-ins run on Saturdays 10am-1pm and Sundays 1pm-4pm, and are a place where people experiencing mental health issues will find a warm and friendly environment.

Currently each session is supported by a SLAM member of staff and 11 active volunteers cover the Saturday and Sunday sessions between them. The aim is that the drop-ins will be entirely run by volunteers (with ongoing training and support provided by both SLAM and the VCC) by mid September 2010.

The next stage of the mental health development service is Stepping Stones in Lewisham. The projects aim is to provide practical help and support for people experiencing mild to moderate mental wellbeing issues.

There will be a rolling 10 week programme based at the drop-in and will offer workshops such as goal setting, action planning, looking at limiting beliefs, motivation, confidence building and handling stress effectively. The programme will also offer assigned mentors for one-to-one support as well as providing support within the group environment to enable people to move forward with their lives and assist them on their recovery journey.

If you are interested in volunteering for the programme, please contact Evelyn at the VCC on 020 8291 1747 or email: evelyn@voluntarycarecentre.co.uk.

Event	Venue	Date & Time
Volunteers Week Event All Volunteers invited.	Details to follow nearer the date.	Wednesday 1st June
VCC AGM Everyone is welcome...why not bring a friend!	Grove Centre Church, Jews Walk, Sydenham, SE26 6PL	23rd June 7.30pm
Blythe Hill Fields Festival Volunteers needed to help on the day		Saturday 2nd July. VCC Stall 11am -3pm.
British 10k London Run Volunteers needed to raise money in sponsorship for the VCC		Sunday 11th July