It’s been a busy couple of months here at Coram’s Fields. We hosted the first London Youth Football Tournament in two years, reopened our newly refurbished Guides Hall and have made an exciting new appointment to our Youth Programme. Not to mention our trees successfully surviving the 70mph winds of Storm Eunice!
Check out everything that’s been going on across the park and our services in this latest edition of the Coram’s Fields newsletter
An Exciting Appointment for our Youth Centre
In December, we said goodbye to our Youth Programme Manager Dan Jourdan. After over four years in our Youth Centre, it was time for a new challenge for Dan. We would like to wish him the best of luck and say a massive thank you for the hard work and dedication he has put into Coram’s Fields.
In the New Year, we were hugely excited to announce Dan’s replacement and our new Youth Programme Manager, Evans Omondi. With over a decade of youth work experience across a range of different organisations, there is no doubt Evans is the perfect fit for this role. A familiar face to many across the local community, we want to wish Evans a massive Coram’s Fields welcome and can’t wait to see all he will achieve.
London Youth Tournament
This February half term we were delighted to once more host the London Youth football tournament here at Coram’s Fields. Unable to go ahead for the past two years due to Covid-19, the tournament’s return brought together more than 40 different teams and over 300 young people to compete. Supported by the Oak Foundation and the Jack Petchey Foundation, the London Youth tournament is a great opportunity for youth groups across London to come together and create unforgettable memories.
For more info, check out the London Youth website. The next tournament will take place during the Easter Holidays on Thursday 14th April.
A New and Improved Guides Hall
After being closed for over two months, in the beginning of February we were thrilled to reopen our newly refurbished Guides Hall. The hall is a valuable space for local children. Not only is it used by our own Out of School Club and the 5th Holborn Scouts and Guides, but every weekend it provides a unique location for children to celebrate their birthdays with friends and family.
Once more we would like to thank Groundwork and the HS2 Community and Environment Fund for their transformational financial support of this project. Improvements made across the hall include a brand new fitted kitchen, new lighting, heating and paintwork, renovated parquet flooring and newly refurbished toilets.
Interested in hiring the Guides Hall for your event? Hall hires are a crucial way for us to fund our services for local children and maintain our seven-acre park and playground. For more information, visit our hall hire webpage.
Major Donors Visit Coram’s Fields Youth Centre
In February, we were delighted to welcome the William Waites Memorial Trust to meet our youth workers and see first-hand a busy youth centre evening session. As major funders of our Youth Programme, this was a great opportunity for founder Jonny Waites and three of the charity’s trustees to witness the massive impact of their fundraising efforts.
A large part of the WWMT’s donations are raised through an annual ‘Tour de France’ that they organise for individuals and companies to cycle in. All proceeds are donated to organisations, like Coram’s Fields, seeking to enable disadvantaged young people to achieve their full potential. A massive thank you is owed to the WWMT for their impressive fundraising efforts and continued support of our Youth Programme here at Coram’s Fields.
Another Fun-Filled Half Term
February half-term saw another hugely successful play-scheme here at Coram’s Fields. Whether it was baking, tote bag decorating, football or any of our other fun and divers
e activities, there was something for everyone during this jam-packed week. A particular highlight for the children was the welcome return of The Flying Seagull Project. Putting on another fantastic circus-based show, the Flying Seagulls also helped teach the children their own circus skills.
We are now taking bookings for our Easter holidays play-scheme. To view the programme and book your space, please visit our Out of School Club webpage.
Coram’s Fields Braces Against Storm Eunice
On Friday 18th February, Storm Eunice hit London with winds exceeding 70mph. Our canopy of large plane trees, a popular attraction of Coram’s Fields, makes us particularly vulnerable to winds as strong as these. After assessing the risk to park users from falling branches and other debris, we made the decision not to open our gates at all on Friday 18th and only from midday on Saturday 19th. Thankfully, apart from one smaller tree in our Wildlife Garden and a few minor branches here and there, no significant long term damage occurred. Coram’s Fields’ plane trees live to fight another day!
Helping Hands from Deckers Brands
On Wednesday 2nd March, a large contingent of volunteers from Deckers Brands spent the day getting their hands dirty and helping with gardening and maintenance across the park. Despite the less-than-ideal weather, everyone rolled up their sleeves and made light work of seeding, tidying our two large sandpits and clearing leaves and other debris left by all the recent high winds.
A massive thank you is owed to all who helped out on the day and to Deckers Brands for their long-standing commitment to Coram’s Fields as part of our Connecting Futures programme.
