Croydon Voluntary Action

Juliet, a Heathfield resident, has a passion for jewellery! She has her own business and designs/creates beautiful jewellery. She has also come up with the idea of delivering free family sessions at the local Selsdon library and within other Best Start workshops for parents. They have been a great success as children learn to concentrate and be creative and parents spend some creative time in a...

Gift is a Heathfield resident; with the support of our ABCD Community builder for the area, Stella, she decided to set up an initiative for women who, like her, lost their baby as a result of still birth, miscarriage etc. Letting them know they are not alone and that they can share their experience/trauma/concerns with others who went through the same is key to Gift. She has a group session on ...

Marley, mum of 2 under 5 children in Thornton Heath, talks about her involvement with the Best Start ABCD project, and how this has impacted her and other local families' children. Trumble gardens is a local green area that was under used and negleted until Marley joined forces with other local parents to clean it, revitalised and regularly use it as a meet up space where children can play and ...

Ben on what he got out of the Health Champions programme

Ben talks about his passion and what he wants to get from the programme

Gloria on her next steps for her project

Gloria on planning for a sustainable project

Gloria shares what she expects from the programme

Ahilah talks about her next steps

Ahilah on conducting a survey to identify the need for her project

Ahilah Mathew describes her passion and what she wants from the Health Champions Programme

Leeman talks about his future plans to set up cooking competitions on a regular basis

Leeman on what he will take from the Health Champions programme

Leeman Francis El II on his passion for his community and what he hopes to get from the Health Champions programme

Mark talks about how events like this are important, how much engagement they get from people, especially children age five. And also how this unused space in Upper Norwood has been brought back into community use and how everyone can now use it to what best suits their lifestyle.

Karen and Lisa from St Chad Babies and Toddlers group talk about how beneficial the Idea Fair was to their group and the connections that they made with other groups.

Sukina who is the facilitator for Positive Birth Movement in Norwood, she talks about how she got involved and what she got out of the Ideas Fair and how she is moving forward.

Nicky reflects on the Ideas Fair as it comes to a close and how she thinks it went and why it is important.

Corin talks about what baby Norwood is, how it is a safe space and how it is a place for parents to network. And also about what she wants to do next.

Louise talks about why she was there to support the Idea Fairs, and to promote Parent Champions.

Jackie from We STAP promotes her charity at the Ideas fair.

Daisy's project outcomes-Indicating reduced pressure on GPS and A&E

Pam from Unique Roots talks about her gardening project and how it helps to improve emotional well being.

Terrie talks about services provided by Off the Record, their counselling support for young people, the Young Carers and the BME groups' project. Also mentions why he found this Mental Health Forum event (8/3/2017) useful.

Croydon Mediation attended our Mental Health Forum event on 8/3/2017. Hear from their volunteer mediator Sheila about the amazing work they do in the community.

Lorna from Home Group talks about her organisation, based in South Norwood, which provides housing and support to referred ex offenders.

The Director of Care to Listen counselling talks about the low cost counselling sessions they provide in Croydon and what the benefit was of attending our Mental Health Forum network event on 8/3/2017.

Croydon Drop In attended our Mental Health Forum event in March 2017. Hear from Angela on what services they provide to young people in Croydon and how she benefits from her involvement in the Forum.

Raising Great Aspirations attended our Mental Health Forum event on 8/3/2017. Hear from Margaret about linking up with other young people providers in their passionate preventative work in Croydon.

The Community Family Project from New Addington Baptist Church attended our Mental Health Forum event in March 2017. Hear about what services they provide and how they support residents' emotional well being in New Addington.

Matthew from Active Minds (part of Mind in Croydon) on our Mental Health Forum market place on 8/3/2017 and what his project provides in the borough.

Barbara from Hear Us attended our Mental Health Forum event in March 2017. Hear from her about why she believes event like this are important for local providers.

John, who volunteers at the Town Hall, meeting, greeting and directing visitors, talks about how volunteering keeps you in touch with what is happening in your local community.

Deborah, who volunteers with the CVA Volunteer Centre as an Appropriate Adult volunteer, talks about her passion for helping disadvantaged members of the community. Deborah, who cannot work due to her disability, finds volunteering help her to be engaged, get out there and, best of all, helps others, which makes her feel good about herself. She work with offenders in custody.

Wandle House Association partners with local third sector organisations across nine boroughs in London to run projects for their residents, including one on volunteering, which is key to people getting back into work.

Sandi, who is retired, volunteers as an administrator on the CVA Volunteer Centre's New Routes project (supporting women going through the court system). She feels the role helps her to get out and meet people.

MECC-ABCD research

Jennifer, health champion, on how the course helped her and what her next steps will be.

Maria, Health champion, on how the course supported her and what she plans for the future.

Mohammed, health champions, talks about what the course provided to him and how it helped him to grow his idea into a project.

Yoga, #healthchampion on how the course helped her to develop her idea and what her plans are for the future, working with 20 families in West Thornton.

Anita from Disability Croydon talks us through the support she provided a family as part of the Croydon Family Power Programme, led by Croydon Voluntary Action, to a mother, her young daughter and grandmother before and after she sadly died from a terminal illness. As a Family Navigator, Anita signposted the family to numerous services and also provided emotional support.

family story