News

The Cambrian Community Centre hosted a bat walk and talk on Thursday 3rd October. Around 25 local residents attended the centre and made bat themed art and craft items before taking to Richmond Park with bat detectors.

They also had a chance to meet “Biggles” the giant bat who had a quick flight up Cambrian Rd as part of the activity. It was great fun and we hope to run it again next year when the bats come out of hibernation.

Our popular Wednesday Zumba classes are ceasing from this Wednesday (9th October). This is due to our tutor Sally starting a new job. We wish her all the best for this! Monday evening sessions (7.30-8.30pm) will continue as normal.

We are delighted to announce that Saturday gym sessions are resuming from Saturday 19th October. These will be run by Victoria, our new weekend gym instructor. The sessions will be extended, now running from 10am to 3pm. See you there!

We will be running a family walk and talk session on the evening of the 3rd October 6pm-8pm. There will be a quick introduction to the wonderful world of bats, a brief craft activity and a chance to meet “Biggles” the giant bat puppet. We will then take a short walk around the Community Centre and into Richmond Park using bat detectors to see what species are to be found in our area. If you wish to attend please email manager@cambriancentre.org or call to book places. PLEASE NOTE THIS ACTIVITY IS SUBJECT TO WEATHER.

The Cambrian Community Centre will be hosting an Autumn Equinox singing workshop with Maria Soriano on Sunday 22nd September from 7-9pm. Maria is a Singing4Health Voice leader and will be running this workshop for anyone looking to enjoy group singing in a supportive and fun environment. Reserve your place at info@voicemagic.co.uk. More information at www.voicemagic.co.uk”

We are delighted to announce that Vicki, our amazing gym manager has recently become a mother!! She gave birth to baby Edward last week. We wish Vicki and Chris all the very best for this exciting new chapter of their life together. We are also looking forward to seeing Edward soon!

We are sad to announce that Jordan, one of the fantastic gym team, is moving on from the Cambrian Community Gym. Jordan has been a valued member of the team for the past few years and we will miss her. Jordan will continue to offer some of her massage session from the Centre so we will still see her occasionally. Due to Jordan’s departure we will be having to close the gym temporarily on Saturdays. Please bear with us while we recruit to fill this vacancy in the team.

We are sad to announce that Jordan, one of our superb gym team, is leaving us. Jordan has been a valued member of staff for several years and we will miss her as she moves on to develop her various skills in music, sport and massage. She will still be coming into the Centre occasionally to provide her popular massage sessions so we will still see her around. We wish her all the best. Whilst we recruit to fill Jordan’s role at the gym we will be temporarily closing the gym on a Saturday. Please bear with us whilst we seek to do this.

The staff and Trustees of the Cambrian Community Centre were very sad to hear of the death of Rachel Dickson on August 6th. Throughout her many years in Richmond Rachel dedicated her life to public service and campaigned ceaselessly for the improvement of the lives of the more disadvantaged in our community. She worked tirelessly in support of many of our much loved local voluntary institutions and played a large part, along with Richmond Parish Lands Charity, in the creation of the Queens Road Estate and the Cambrian Community Centre.

We owe her a huge debt of gratitude and wish to extend our sincere condolences to her family. She will be greatly missed.

A full obituary is available at the Richmond Society website at https://www.richmondsociety.org.uk/news-2/

Please note that the Cambrian Community Gym will be CLOSED on Bank Holiday Monday 26th August. We will be open as usual on all other days.

After a break we are delighted that our popular creative writing sessions are returning. They restart on Tuesday 3rd September at 2pm (2-4). The group will meet on the first Tuesday of the month thereafter. The group will be facilitated by our new tutor Gwen.

Gwen MacKeith is a writer and translator of fiction, poetry and theatre from Spain and Spanish America, and a fiction editor for the arts quarterly, Ambit magazine.

The sessions are open to anyone interested in developing their creative writing skills in small supportive group setting.

Announcing a new activity at The Cambrian Community Centre starting on 16th September. French Tutoring for children aged 5-11 years old with Eda Bilgen:

“After a long period of one to one tutoring experience I’m now ready and happy to announce my French Group Classes for children from September at Cambrian Community Centre in Richmond. Sessions will be held for KS1 and KS2 children for eleven weeks, weekly one session for each, at the beginning and due to requests more classes may also be added.
I can guarantee that students will love language learning and I can especially provide them with a good start into French learning with my “Friendly French Lessons.” I can also help them gain basic achievements in French language. 
I also get children prepared for GCSE higher level exams both in French and Turkish languages. You’re also welcome to contact for advanced grammar and GSCE tuition for either of these languages privately. 
I’ve an enhanced DBS check and looking forward to having my new students experience the fun way of language, learning together.”

Lessons start on September 16th- Mondays from 4-5pm (please note this is an amended time from the leaflet). Please contact frenchtutor@madame-eda.co.uk for more information.
Leaflet available here

The Cambrian Community Centre, in collaboration with Hilal Yildirim, are excited to announce that they will be providing some FREE well being taster sessions for our Centre Users who may have never tried meditation before, for their mental health.



Dates for your diary:
Monday 19th August 11.00am-12.00pm
Thursday 17th October 2.00pm- 3.00pm
Tuesday 22nd October 3.00pm- 4.00pm

A list of topics will be covered and you will be able to take away simple and powerful practices to do wherever and wherever you would like to do it!
These are self empowering techniques, showing you how to feel calmer and release stress and anxiety as well as simple techniques to release the body of pain as well as transforming the area with pain.
They will help you to balance your emotions, related to depression, anxiety, worry, fear, grief and sadness. These techniques will also show you how you can boost energy, stamina, vitality and immunity.

There will be guided meditation with Tibetan Singing Bowl for reaching the state of mindfulness. The practices will be explained step by step and you can comfortably practice while sitting in your chair. There will also be group energy clearing for releasing any blockages.

Hilal has been running the very popular well being and meditation classes at The Cambrian Community Centre for the last 2 years. She is trained in Reiki, Reconnective Healing, is a Tao Hands Practitioner and has worked as a teacher, mentor and a healer. She combines different techniques from the west and the east, which include sacred teachings. The practices are to align your mind, body and soul to have a happier and healthier life combined with body tapping, sound power, mind power and more.



If you would like more information on meditation or Hilal, please go to www.shiningsoulight.com and see the two sided leaflet here and here.

For more information on these taster sessions please call David on 020 8948 3351 or email manager@cambriancentre.org

Zumba will be taking a break over some of the summer holiday. Please see below for dates.

July:

Mon 8th evening class as normal
Wed 10th morning class as normal
Mon 15th evening class as normal
Wed 17th morning class as normal
Mon 22nd evening class as normal
Wed 24th morning class as normal
Mon 29th evening class as normal
Wed 31st NO CLASS

August:

Mon 5th August, evening class as normal
Wed 7th NO CLASS
Mon 12th NO CLASS
Wed 14th NO CLASS
Mon 19th NO CLASS
Wed 21st NO CLASS
Mon 26th NO CLASS

To find out about other activities during the summer, please refer to notifications or call David on 020 8948 3351 or email manager@cambriancentre.org

The Cambrian Community Centre hosted another very successful Art House event on Sunday 30th June.

There were fantastic displays from the Cambrian Drawing Group (Friday’s 9.30-12.30) and our Papier Mache group (Friday’s 12.30-2.45).

There was also a wonderful performance from our new Cambrian Ukulele and (Wednesday’s 7-9pm) complimented by a guest appearance from The Cambrian Community Choir (Mondays 12.45-2.45).

In addition to all of this creativity, we were very happy to provide a temporary roost for a giant bat who enjoyed a couple of flights up and down Cambrian Road in the afternoon!

Come along to the Cambrian Community Centre to kick off your summer on Monday 15th July 1.45pm for the Cambrian Community Choir’s End of Term Concert. Admission is free and refreshments will be available! See leaflet here

Come and be inspired at  on Sunday 30th June 11am-6pm, when The Art House Open Studios once again come to The Cambrian Community Centre. Our very popular Papier Mache and Cambrian Drawing Group will be showcasing their amazing work for all to see!

Papier Mache literally means chewed paper and was invented in China in the Second Century. It has been used as a creative technique for centuries, far and wide and with very varied applications.

For example, it has been used for stucco mouldings, boats, furniture, colourful products for folk traditions, picture frames, decorative boxes, screens, paintings and trays, puppets but also fun and frivolous animal sculptures to name but a few!

The technique is simplicity itself, all you need is paper (any kind- good for the recycling!), a flour and water based glue, sometimes a little wire and masking but most importantly, imagination. It is fun and sticky and everyone can do it!

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday 30th June 11am-6pm!

Please come and join us and Richmond Good Neighbours for Afternoon Tea on Wednesday 12th June 2.00pm-3.30pm, where there will be lots of tea, cake and friendly chat! Please see the poster here.

Following Mary’s retirement the Cambrian Community Centre welcomes David Lemon as the new manager.  David is looking forward to working with the Trustees and staff to maintain and further develop the Centre and generally continue the great work that has been achieved by Mary.

David joins the Cambrian Community Centre from the London Wildlife Trust where he has been developing and delivering youth conservation programmes across London. He will be continuing to deliver some school sessions from the local LWT reserve- Crane Park Island so you may see him occasionally standing in the river in his wellies!

Prior to working for the London Wildlife Trust David spent 8 years as Director of Richmond Youth Partnership where he made many useful contacts across the borough which he hopes to utilise to develop the Cambrian Community Centre. David is looking forward to meeting you all.

Due to popular demand our Zumba classes are now taking place on Monday evenings 7.30-8.30pm as well as Wednesday 9.30-10.30am. Come and have a go with our amazing Zumba tutor Sally. Starting 10th June.

On Wednesday 22nd May, we said a fond farewell to Mary, who has been serving as Manager of the Cambrian Community Centre since 2010. Her job hadn’t always been easy, as from the off she was faced with the uphill struggle of keeping the Centre alive despite its bleak looking future. All of her hard work has paid off and not only does the Centre now flourish but Mary has become well known and loved amongst Trustees, Staff and all who use the Centre for its various groups and activities. We are all so very grateful to her for her tireless work to make the Centre what it now is, a thriving Community Space, just reaching it’s 30th year of operation.

Mary’s Leaving Party was very well attended by Trustees, Staff, Users of the Centre and affiliates of other groups, charities and organisations within the Borough, whom Mary has managed to create lasting positive relationships with for the Centre. Drinks, nibbles and cakes were enjoyed by all! A lovely speech was made by Alan Sanders, who was the Chair of the Trustees when Mary was appointed, followed by a brief speech from Sue, our current Chair, and a presentation of cards and presents. The great turn out is a definite testament to the appreciation we all share for her hard work over the years. We wish her all the very best for a long, happy and restful retirement.

December has been a busy month with us gearing up for the festive season. Richmond Good Neighbours held their final afternoon tea of the year, providing an array of festive treats for their guests and volunteers. If you know of anyone who would like to be involved next year, their teas will be held on 9th January, 13th February, 13th March, 10th April and 8th of May.

The Cambrian Community Choir held their Christmas Concert on 10th December. This was very well attended and they got us well and truly into the festive spirit with a great mixture of songs and festive nibbles.

With all of our classes now coming to a close for the year, please get in touch with Mary on 020 8948 3351 or email manager@cambriancentre.org if you would like any more information on events and groups starting up again in the New Year.

We would like to wish all of our supporters and friends a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of the Team at The Cambrian Community Centre.

Struggling to get into the Christmas Spirit? The Cambrian Choir have their Christmas Concert on Monday 10th December at 1.45pm. Everyone is welcome, admission is FREE and there will be refreshments available. We look forward to seeing you there!

Richmond Parish Lands would like to invite you to a public exhibition to view its plans for the more efficient use and improvement of an underused area of Queen’s Road Estate, located at the junction of Queen’s Road, Cambrian Road and Grove Road.

Their plans include the construction of new affordable housing, the reorganisation of on site car parking and minor refurbishment works to the Cambrian Community Centre and Dickson House. Please click here for more information on this event.

The exhibition will be held at the Cambrian Community Centre on Saturday 10th November 10am-2pm and Monday 12th November 4pm-8pm.

October has been a busy month for us at the Cambrian Centre. Richmond Good Neighbours have been doing their bit to end loneliness in Richmond by hosting an Afternoon Tea at The Cambrian Centre on 10th October. Volunteers helped with transport, baking and chatted to guests and the event was very well attended. They have scheduled another Afternoon Tea for Wednesday 14th November 2.00-3.30pm here at The Cambrian Centre, so please get in touch if you know someone who would like to come.

We had a successful weekend 13th and 14th October supporting London Children’s Book Project, who redistribute thousands of new and gently used books to children and their families across London. Our book drive collected 582 incredible books and we would like to say a really big thank you to everyone who donated for this amazing cause.

If you would like any more information on events at The Cambrian Centre please call Mary on 020 8948 3351 or email on manager@cambriancentre.org

On 9th July, the Cambrian Community Singers, “Singing for Fun” group performed an end of term concert. They had a great turn out singing a range of songs, which were followed by refreshments for all! We would like to thank everyone who attended. The Singing group meets every Monday in term time 12.45pm- 2.45pm and welcomes new members. If you would like more information please contact Mary McDonald on manager@cambriancentre.org or 020 8948 3351

The Supper Quiz on 3rd March 2018 was a great success.  The attendees had a great evening pitting their wits against a formidable set of questions.  We raised about £1300 despite a few last minute cancellations due to the weather.  Many thanks to the Friends of the Cambrian Centre who ran the very popular and enjoyable annual event and to everyone else who helped.

The winning team were the “Flying Zucchinis” who won a closely fought battle for the accolade of “Cambrains 2018” for which they all received a medal.  This was the fourth supper quiz – we hope to run it again next year.

Would you like some help with your Computer (or Smartphone etc)? Our FREE Computer help drop-in sessions run every Wednesday morning, 10:30 to 12:30. To ensure everyone gets support, we are now operating a booking system. Please call the Centre on 020 8948-3351 to book a slot. Please note the later time. There are no prerequisites – if you need help just call us – bring your device if appropriate.  Flyer available here.

The Christmas Concert, given by our Singing for Fun group, was  well received and we would like to thank the many people who attended.  There was even demand for an encore! The Singing group meets every Monday in term-time 12.45pm- 2.45pm and welcomes new members. If you would like more information please contact Mary McDonald on manager@cambriancentre.org

We were very pleased to be able to show the film Richmond Park, National Nature Reserve at the Centre on 26th November to a capacity audience. This beautiful 20 minute film features David Attenborough who was also its narrator. It was made by the Friends of Richmond Park to highlight the environmental importance of our Park and conservation issues in the face of increasing visitor numbers. Afterwards trustees from the Friends responded to questions and comments.
If you would like to know more about the film and The Friends of Richmond Park, please visit www.frp.org.uk

Thanks to all those who attended our gym open day on Saturday 28th October.  In our annual sponsored walk, our users made it all the way to Richmond and back to Greenwich (56 miles), twice as far as planned, walking “along” the river from the Thames Barrier to Richmond Bridge, using the treadmills in the gym.  Thank you so much and well done to everyone who took part, sponsored and supported us over the day.  We are still collecting sponsor money and will update everyone with a grand total over the next couple of weeks.  You can still   sponsor the “walkers” online using the MyDonate Button on the “How You Can Help” page on the website.

We were visited by the Mayor of Richmond, as the Mulberry Centre, our local cancer support service, held a Fun Information Session to explain how they can help all affected by cancer, including family and friends.  More information is on the flyer.  Those attending enjoyed teas, coffee and cake  and lucky visitors won super prizes at the raffle – thanks to all who helped.

The Cambrian Centre has a new website and you are looking at it!  We’ve updated our site to make it easier to read on mobile devices and easier for staff and volunteers to update.  If you have any problems or suggestions please let us know.  Write to Vicki@CambrianCentre.org      Continue reading “New Web Site”

On Saturdays the gym will continue to open at 10 am and close at 1 pm –we operated these hours during the summer, and having consulted users, it seems that these hours work for almost all users, so they will continue.

(June 2017)  If you are a Twitter user you can follow us using the hashtag #cambriancentre and our handle is @Cambrian-Centre.   Our tweets are also  shown on our website.

The Cambrian Community Centre went to the Fair! Our pitch (see picture) attracted much interest, and we managed to raise close to £700 for the Centre. Our thanks go to all the many people who helped; on the day, in preparation and also by donating Bric-a-brac or Tombola prizes. More pictures can be seen by clicking here.

The auction of local artist Desmond Jones’ work took place and the picture we were allocated was sold. We are extremely grateful to his family for the generous donation of some of the proceeds – many thanks!

“Our” picture is shown on the right, Blue/Red Dancer (catalogue number 9.) The sale was at Richmond upon Thames College/ Full details can be found at http://desmondjonesart.co.uk

The Supper Quiz was a great success – we raised more than £1300! Many thanks to the Friends of the Cambrian Centre who ran the very popular and enjoyable annual event. We hope to repeat this event next year.

We are very grateful to Kew Village Market for an award of £1000 towards our Gym Equipment fund. We have not replaced much equipment for many years and this year have been attempting to remedy this as reported already. This generous grant will help us make a major improvement to the standard of equipment in our gym. The picture shows our manager, Mary McDonald, on the left, and Chair, Teresa Grafton on the right, receiving the cheque from the Mayor and Lady Mayoress on 2nd October. The market runs on the first Sunday each month and is well worth a visit!

Continue reading “Sunday 2nd October 2016: Our thanks to Kew Village Market”

Our summer sale, on Sunday 12th June 2016, raised almost £1000. We were also delighted that so many people came in and visited the centre. Many thanks to all those who came and all those who donated the items for sale.

Our “Walk the Thames” Gym Fundraising Event was held on Saturday June 11th. We are delighted to say that we have raised a total of over £2000! (including donations, sponsorship and gift aid). Our mission this year was to get as many people involved as possible. 28 people took part over the day – a big increase on previous fundraising years. We hit our target of 28 miles (Thames Barrier to Richmond Bridge) during the afternoon and were able to continue on to 32 miles (back to Chiswick Bridge). A BIG thank you to everyone who helped, either by contributing to the mileage walked or by donating money!

We will shortly be replacing one of our old treadmills and this will help us to do so.

Continue reading “Walk The Thames”

(June 2016)  We are delighted to acknowledge that the Cambrian Community Centre has been awarded a £2,500 grant towards our recently acquired “Arm Ergometer”, a vital new piece of gym equipment.

This offers valuable exercise opportunities to gym users especially those needing to improve their cardiovascular fitness, and is particularly useful as the Centre fulfils its role supporting the new Exercise Referral programme in the borough.

We have just issued a press release which you can read by clicking here.

This equipment has been on the “wish list” of the gym team for a long time and it is great that, with the support of this funding, we are able to increase the choice to those keen to exercise as part of their recovery programme or to keep mobile as they age.