During these difficult and unknown times we all find ourselves in I have been somewhat frustrated.  Due to my own long-term health conditions I was placed in the Government’s ‘shielded’ group, so I’ve been isolating and have not been out since the middle of March. The frustration was partly that I couldn’t register in the call out for NHS volunteers. However, I was able to help one person - an ex-neighbour and friend who is in her 80’s and sadly has serious chronic conditions.

I registered her with the Government’s & Islington Council’s schemes for vulnerable shielded people. Eventually, she started receiving a weekly parcel of dry and tinned food. However, it took a couple of weeks, and prior to that Islington Council put me in touch with a community group who could help.

At the community group, I spoke with a friendly sounding young lady, and explained my friend was very low on food. She managed to get, and safely deliver, all the food items we had agreed upon, with just one substitution.
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A few weeks later, I asked her to get another few items - my friend needed some fresh veg and a couple of treats as was feeling very down. She again managed to get it all. When she rung me to say job done, she told me she had then gone to a nearby shop a second time as she thought that magazines would cheer up my friend. Could I call my friend and ask her to come down to her front door again as she had left a couple of them in ‘our delivery place’?

I am very grateful to this wonderful volunteer who was prepared to go to numerous places for the right things. She was already a star in my eyes, but to think of something extra, and then go and get magazines after delivering the food was an amazing act of kindness, which I will not forget. They certainly gave my friend a boost.

There really are some wonderful people in our community - one of the reasons I love Islington!
​Take care and hope to see you all soon.
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Wendy – HNG Marketing volunteer

This week is also Creativity and Wellbeing Week and I am always inspired by the kindness and understanding shown by our wonderful Art for Wellbeing tutors James and Oriana, who encourage kindness and understanding between students and also remind students to remember to be kind to themselves. The result is that these classes have become safe places for anyone however experienced or inexperienced to safely explore their creativity in a supportive and positive environment.

One of the ways to be kind to yourself whilst being creative is to notice the positives of your act of creativity. So - maybe your self-portrait’s a bit of a monster at the moment but hey – you had fun making it and the eyes look really good!

My pledge this week is to make sure I print and post a copy of an old family photo that I know one of my elderly relatives would very much like to have.
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Antoinette

​For Mental health Awareness Week I am sharing this wonderful act of kindness I witnessed at the Old Fire Station.

One day a new person came into the Centre. After speaking to them they were very wary of meeting new people and didn’t feel confident to join-in - which of course is totally fine. Another service user overheard the conversation and offered to make them a cup of tea, which was lovely as it was very cold outside. The new person accepted the offer and with cups of tea in hand they proceeded to chat away for 10 minutes. Such a typical scene at the Old Fire Station. The new person then filled out their registration form and has been coming to various classes ever since. I don’t think she would have joined without that cup of tea. Small acts of kindness go a long way. 

To return the above act of kindness during this week I have baked a cake to send to key workers at my son’s workplace.

To borrow from the words of Dr. Frasier Crane: ‘this is Chelsey wishing you all good mental health’.

Chelsey

Today, Monday 18th May, marks the start of Mental Health Awareness Week. The theme this year is Kindness. I’d like to take this chance to share an act of kindness I’ve experienced at HNG and make a pledge to do something kind for someone this week. To steal a line from someone else ‘every little helps’.

It was early in my time at HNG and it was a very hot day during July. The sun was beating though all the glass windows of the Old Fire Station’s reception, which I had been left to cover (we were short staffed at the time as one member of staff had ‘selfishly…’ broken their ankle). It was a very busy day with lots of people coming in and out of the Centre – and it also was the day when new phone lines, phones & broadband were being installed in the building. 

At one specific moment an exercise class was about to start, so lots of people were asking me questions at the same time. The telephone engineer was waiting to talk to me – and the phone was ringing – also a volunteer was trying to ask me some questions. I slightly snapped at the volunteer and said something like, “I can’t deal with your question right now I’m having a very stressful time and it’s also my birthday”. The afternoon rolled on and it was much quieter. At some point the volunteer came back in clutching a brown coloured paper bag and handed it to me. The smell was divine – they had bought me a McDonalds. A cheese burger, fries and hot apple pie.  It was an act of kindness that I’ll never forget and will always be grateful for. 

For my pledge of kindness this week I am going to share a sewing project with a friend of mine I’ve not spoken to in ages. I know they like sewing and it will give me an excuse to check in with them and see that they’re safe and to (hopefully) get some advice for my project. 

Some simple pledges can be found here if you feel like joining in. 

Until next time. 
Daniel

We are delighted to announce that the London Community Foundation has given us a generous grant to extend our telephone and online services. The closure of Holloway Neighbourhood Group’s Old Fire Station and Stress Project centres 7 weeks ago, left us concerned about the wellbeing of our many centre users who rely on our services to meet up with friends, seek support and keep active. Since closing we have transformed many of our activities so that we can stay connected to the community either by telephone or online. The funding will enable us to grow these services to reach more people.

“In Touch” is our new telephone support service. Our volunteers regularly call people who have found themselves isolated by the lockdown. As well as having a friendly chat, we have supported people to download e-books, get practical support around the delivery of food, and recommended online exercise classes (we especially love the yoga class [click here for the class] delivered by our own tutor, Dunya). Our service is expanding rapidly, so do contact [email protected] if you would either like to receive our calls or to volunteer to make the calls.

The grant from the London Community Foundation has also enabled us to expand our Stress Project counselling service, making it available to more people and to those on the very lowest incomes. During these challenging times, it is important that people can access support without long waiting lists. Once a health or social care professional has completed our referral form [here], we can book an assessment without delay. Our amazing counsellors are able to offer counselling either online or over the phone.

We can’t wait to be able to safely open our doors once again and welcome visitors at the Old Fire Station and Stress Project centres. But we also know that “In Touch” and our online counselling will be appreciated by some for many months to come.

Take care and stay safe,
 
Lucy Bingham, HNG Chief Executive

We are delighted to announce the launch of our free 'Create in Your Space’ help to be creative at home art classes. 

Create in your Space is the new phase of our Art for Wellbeing project and is focused on supporting you to be maintain wellbeing and creative while in lockdown. 

We have one class each week: 

Creative Writing: Hosted on Zoom with Oriana on the 1st & 3rd Thursday of each month at 1.30pm. 
Explorative Art: Creative activity guides sent direct to your email on the 2nd & 4th Thursday of each month with telephone support from James, the tutor. 

We hope that as many people as possible can join in so please contact us on 0207 6079794 for information on how to join the classes. 

We are grateful for the continued funding provided by Clarion Futures to put these classes on. 

More information on the classes can be found here and don't forget to send us your work so we can put it in the online gallery.
Antoinette