After our successful quiz in April, we’re holding another!
Thursday 6 December from 8-10pm (doors open 7.30pm) £12 per team (4 per team recommended).
We’ll have 5 rounds as before with prizes on offer, and a raffle. Bring your own drinks and nibbles. Hot and soft drinks will be available at usual cost – just 60p per tea or coffee.
Book your team place here.We look forward to seeing you 🙂
With the release recently of the national Loneliness Strategy, we here at The Net Hub are keen to do our bit for the older people in our community and not only make our space available to them, but also make it as comfortable as possible.
We run a number of activities, from Chairobics to Time To Talk, a DIY Arts & Crafts Cafe, and an open cafe every week. We’d love to get the space open even more and to help this, we want the space to be welcoming to all.
Thanks to England’s temperate climate, most people can enjoy the space in relative comfort. However, during particularly cold or hot phases, the old wooden doors and windows can leave it either cold and draughty or humid and sweaty.
We’ve already got £1000 towards replacement costs, but we need another £3000 in order to install new pvc doors and windows with openings that will help to regulate the temperatures. This would also include a new back door, which currently cannot be opened from the outside and makes logistics a little tricky when we have a group meeting in the space.
Any help you can give us would be much appreciated.
Thank you! #fundraising https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/new-doors-and-windows …
We’ve signed up to the Give As You Live shopping site fundraiser!
You can help us raise more money to keep doing what we do – and it won’t cost you a penny over or above what you spend when shopping online! How simple is that?
Simply check out the Give As You Live website here on our dedicated page and start raising money for us today!
Thank you, it’s much appreciated 🙂
We’re thrilled that our local MP, Tracey Crouch, has agreed to become Patron of The Net Community Hub. Her role as Minister for Sport and Civil Society also now encompasses being Minister for Loneliness, the reduction of which is our key objective.
Hub Manager Jaye spoke with Tracey during her official first visit to the hub recently, to find out what steps are being undertaken to address social isolation nationwide and how hubs like ours can make such a difference.
A Connected Society: The national strategy for tackling loneliness
Tackling the issues highlighted by MP Jo Cox.
“Firstly, thank you for asking me to be Patron, it’s a real honour to be asked. This is a hub that has developed over time into something amazing – I remember being here and painting it when it was first being turned into the community hub as it is now. At the time all I saw was a shell, and what you see now is a really vibrant community spirit with people laughing and giggling; there’s a lot of new people here making new connections that they may not have realised they needed to have.
“In terms of activities in this area, I’ve always been really fond of Walderslade, it reminds me of where I grew up in West Hythe – out of the main town so with a slight disconnect between some of the areas, quite often forgotten – so I’m really fond of Walderslade – the people here are hilarious and warm and because of that warmth, it’s easy to forget about the real challenges they face and that there are parts of Walderslade that face real deprivation. So just being able to put something back into the community, whether it’s a litter pick or supporting painting of a new community hub, is just something that’s nice to do.
“From a Member of Parliament perspective you see so many people in the community when they reach crisis point and sadly they’re not necessarily aware of some of the activities that are out there for them that may well have prevented them getting to that crisis point. This is why I think hubs like this are absolutely essential. I now see that on a national scale from a loneliness perspective and making those connections is so important.
“Locally, you can make a real difference. When I’m home and go out on a litter pick, something as simple as that, you can see the difference you’ve made; if cleaning graffiti off a wall, again, it’s an immediate difference. Sometimes, it’s very difficult as an MP in the national parliament and you’re working on national legislation, as you don’t necessarily see the difference you’re making due to the long implementation process of legislation you’re involved in. Here, there’s an instant change and working on the casework as an MP, with people coming in talking to me about the support they need, is actually the most rewarding aspect. Just this morning, I bumped into someone who wanted to thank me for something I did three years ago to help her, and she got quite emotional. It’s nice to meet the people we help, and it’s much more rewarding to be here and visible instead of just having a electronic or phone conversation.
“The loneliness strategy is out now and you will see in it a great deal of connectivity between service providers. Obviously you’ve got the council involved but actually what you want to see is more people being involved, like the doctors’ surgeries, making people come and connect to their local communities. 1 in 5 GP appointments are not medically based but actually driven by loneliness and actually if you can reduce that by encouraging people to come to a community hub, meet new people, learn new skills and do some exercise then that’s a great leap forward.
“The Chairobics and Time to Talk activities that the Net is doing are absolutely brilliant. I’m a big fan of talking therapies, mindfulness and meditation, and the sooner doctors’ surgeries begin to prescribe mindfulness to people the better. And sometimes, these smaller, cosy sessions work better than sessions in a big, more clinical space.”
Huge thanks to Tracey for her time and her support for the Hub. We look forward to playing our part in the overall national strategy.
Walderslade Together is running a peer support group for people receiving or interested in receiving direct payments.
First Tuesday in the month from 11am-1pm – see below for contact details.
After whetting your appetite with that scrummy picture, you’re cordially invited to an Afternoon Tea at the Hub on Thursday, October 11 between 1.30-3.30pm.
For just £2 you’ll have unlimited drinks to wash down tasty scones with jam and cream, and the chance to have a good ol’ natter with old and new friends.
Call into the space when we’re open to book and pay. (See our What’s on Page for sessions).
Thanks to funding from the Kent Police Property Fund, we’ve secured our monthly arts and crafts cafe for the next 12 months.
It takes place on the fourth Thursday in the month from 1.30-3.30pm, and the additional funding will allow us to buy more specific craft materials to work with.
Just £2 per person includes refreshments. You can bring along your own project to work on, anything from crochet to painting, or you can use from our stock. And if you just want to drop in for a cuppa, that’s absolutely fine too!
We look forward to seeing you 🙂
We’re delighted to host Medway Adult Education on Monday, July 23, as part of the Medway Create project.
It will take place during our open coffee morning, between 10am-12noon and all are welcome to join in. To ensure your place, you can book in directly – see the details below.
The Net Community Hub 