Newsletter 15

December 2016 URSULINE LINKS

Contents:

London Day

Camp Project 1

Thanet Day Camp

Project 2-3

Jack Petchey

Awards 4

Aspers Good Causes 4

Cornwallis Presentation

Event 4

your group and in other groups as well.

Getting to know the children made me

appreciate this Ursuline Links

organisation more because learning

about all their different backgrounds

and how they have so much fun and all

it took was me taking only a week of my

summer to do that. This experience has

helped in many ways, from giving me an

insight into working with children in

terms of my career aspirations to

meeting amazing new people that I can

now call friends. What made London

Day Camp even better was the other

four girls I volunteered with. It's crazy

to think we only met each other 3 times

before we lived with each other for a

week; it has been said by many that it

seemed like we knew each other for

longer and this is simply because of how

supporting, caring and fun we were with

each other. If I had the opportunity to

come back then without doubt I would.”

Franchesca Atender, St Angela’s,

Forest Gate writes: “Being surrounded

by other volunteers and the Sisters

inspired us to want to give more back

into the community after Ursuline

Links. Through the week, being with the

children showed me responsibility but

the atmosphere felt fresh and youthful

being with children. I was filled with joy

and achievement when I joined with the

children and they expressed how much

fun they had and how lucky they were”.

Day Camp Projects 2016 This summer we ran two Ursuline Links

Day Camp projects, one in Forest Gate and

the other, a new project, based at Ursuline

College in Thanet. These projects are very

well received, meeting the needs of local

children living in areas of social

deprivation. They also provide our young

volunteers with meaningful, interesting

opportunities to do something useful in

their long summer holiday while also

gaining some hands-on work experience.

London Day Camp Project Georgia Akuchie, Brentwood Ursuline

“At first volunteering for London Day

Camp in the summer was not my first

choice and I regret that it wasn't because it

was truly the best thing I've ever been a

part of. The whole week was filled with

pure excitement from the children and us

volunteers. As we stayed in the Ursuline

Convent in Forest Gate we had the

pleasure of getting to know all the Sisters.

They told us all of their backgrounds and

stories from their school lives to living in

Barbados for 30 years; these were some of

the most interesting things I've heard. As I

looked back on my experience, I decided to

read over the reflection book we were given

and found that I had made a note saying

that working with the children on the first

day was quite challenging but nonetheless

by the second day you knew each one in

decorating and helped the children to produce the

beautiful tie-dye tee-shirts, which they all wore

on the final day. Support also came from the

Sisters and other adult volunteers who

supervised and helped through the week, our

team of adults who prepared and served lunch

each day and the site team who were on hand to

make sure that rooms and the equipment we

needed were available to us.

Sabrina Jones, one of our Youth Leaders, tells us

about her experiences with Ursuline Links:

“In 2012 I volunteered at a day camp in

Wythenshawe (Manchester). It was such a great

experience and one that brings back many happy

memories. With this in mind, four years later

after finishing my course at university I decided

to get in contact with two of the people that I had

worked with in Wythenshawe to see if they

wanted to volunteer again. They both agreed and

THANET DAY CAMP PROJECT AUGUST 2016

“Spending a week working with children helped my confidence grow. I hope what we were able to give those children that week was invaluable and something they’ll remember for a long time. I am incredibly grateful to have volunteered with Ursuline Links”. Isobel Curry, Ursuline College, Westgate.

Following on from the success of the London Day

Camp project, we also organised a similar project in

Thanet, East Kent. The response from the

headteachers at six local primary schools was

fantastic and they immediately nominated children

whom they felt would benefit from this project.

Twenty-six children participated in the event and they

were a delight to be with for the week. We were joined

by four student volunteers from Ursuline College and

four Youth Leaders, all University students, most of

whom had volunteered on Ursuline Links projects in

the past. They were excellent role models for our

younger volunteers and their support was very

significant and added enormously to the success of

the week. We also had an army of adult volunteers

who contributed their time and expertise, running

activities such as Pauline Wells with card craft,

Hayley Snare with her dance workshop, Martin

O’Grady, who ran two science workshops and Jenny

Simmons, who ran workshops in cake making and

3

in August 2016 we travelled to Westgate in Kent

for the Thanet Day Camp.

I arrived in Kent feeling excited as I knew how much the children were going to enjoy the week but I was also anxious as I did not know the area well and I only knew two of the other Youth Leaders. However, it soon became apparent that I had no reason to be anxious as I quickly got to know the kids and my fellow volunteers. The activities that the kids got to do were vast, ranging from science experiments, to cake making, to bird box making, to rock climbing and even archery! It was a pleasure to see the kids engage in such a range of activities. The kids also got to go on a day trip to a safari park; this trip they thoroughly enjoyed, as did I. The development that I saw in all the kids, but

especially the group of children that I was in

charge of, was incredible. It was also very

apparent how much they appreciated the day

camp as several of the kids made cards thanking

us for ‘the best time ever’.

Ursuline links is a unique organisation which gives deprived children a chance to have some fun during

the summer who, without the camp, may not do anything fun during the summer due to monetary or other difficulties. For that reason, I look forward to

volunteering again next summer and also in many summers to come, as the week is an experience which

is not only beneficial for the kids but also for personal development.”

“St. Ethelbert’s Catholic Primary School was delighted with The Ursuline Links Day Camp Project. The children had a lovely week and their parents were very glad to have some extra support for keeping their children happy, busy, educated and having fun in the long Summer Holidays. The week went very quickly and all the children missed the project in the week after it finished. ‘Can we go again next year?’ was their comment.” John Letts, Headteacher.

Ursuline Links

Charity no. 1160034

For more information about Ursuline Links

contact

Bernadette O’Grady

Ursuline Links Co-ordinator

Phone: 07525780653

E-MAIL:

bogrady@ursulinelinks.co.uk

We wish you all

peace, joy and

blessings for the

Christmas season.

URSULINE LINKS CALENDAR

DEC 2016 – FEB 2017

Mon 12th Dec, Ursuline Links

Monthly Meeting, Brentwood,

3:30pm.

Mon 12th Dec, Ursuline Links

Monthly Meeting, Forest Gate,

4:30pm.

Tue 13th Dec, Ursuline Links

Monthly Meeting, UHS Wimbledon,

3:15pm.

Fri 16th Dec, Deadline for

applications for Ursuline Links

projects for summer 2017.

Tue 3rd Jan, Ursuline Links

Committee Meeting, Greenwich,

12 noon.

Mon 9th Jan, Ursuline Links Monthly

Meeting, Ilford, 3:30pm.

Tue 10th Jan, Ursuline Links

Monthly Meeting, Greenwich 5pm.

Mon 16th Jan, Ursuline Links

Monthly Meeting, Brentwood,

3:30pm.

Mon 16th Jan, Ursuline Links

Monthly Meeting, Forest Gate,

4:30pm.

Tue 17th Jan,Ursuline Links Monthly

Meeting, UHS Wimbledon, 3:15pm.

Mon 6th Feb, Ursuline Links

Monthly Meeting, Ilford, 3:30pm.

Tue 7th Feb, Ursuline Links

Monthly Meeting, Greenwich 5pm.

Thur 9th Feb, Ursuline Links

Monthly Meeting, Westgate, 3:15pm.

Tue 14th—Thurs 16th Feb, London

Social Justice project.

Thank You….We wish to thank all those who helped to make our Day Camp

projects possible, either by giving of their time, energy and expertise to run

workshops for the children, helping to prepare and serve food or giving financial

support. Thank you to Cecelia Willson and the Durning Hall group for their

donations and fundraising. We are also grateful to the Cornwallis East Kent

Freemasons Charity for their donation to the Thanet Day Camp project.

JACK PETCHEY AWARD SCHEME

We have continued to be part of the Jack

Petchey Award scheme throughout this

year and this had meant another

Achievement Award for one of our

volunteers. This time, Darren Gorewal

was the unanimous choice and a

well-deserved nominee as he has been a

dedicated Ursuline Links volunteer since

2012. This year he volunteered on the

London Social Justice for Young Adults

project in July and then helped as a Youth

Leader on the London Social Justice,

Thanet Day Camp and New Orleans

projects. He has made an outstanding

contribution to Ursuline links this year

and he is an excellent role model for our

younger volunteers.

Aspers Good Causes Celebration

On Thursday 29th September, Bernadette O’Grady and Darren Gorewal represented Ursuline Links at the Aspers Good Causes Celebration Event at Westfield, Stratford. Aspers supports local charities in the London Borough of Newham and this year they donated £1000 for the London Day Camp project. Their donation funded two drama workshops, much to the delight of the children who participated. We are very grateful for their support.

Cornwallis East Kent Freemasons Charity presentation event Sr Kathleen and Mark Martin, an

Ursuline Links volunteer from Ursuline

College, Westgate, attended the

Cornwallis Presentation event, held at

Canterbury Cathedral Lodge on Saturday

12th November to thank them for their

generous donation to the Thanet Day

Camp project. She gave a presentation

about the work of Ursuline Links and the

Thanet Day Camp.