July/August 2019

Newsletter of The Friendship Café & St James City Farm CAFÉ NEWS

Happy Birthday to All at the Farm

We celebrated the 21st anniversary of the establishment

of the City Farm in July. Tweedy the Clown from

Gifford's Circus was the star of the show closely fol-

lowed by the unicorns. Despite the rain, we had a good crowd of children

come out, as well as supporters of the farm including Martin Surl (Police

Crime Commissioner), representatives from Hartpury College, Edward Gil-

lespie (Lord Lieutenant) and young and old volunteers. Key founder mem-

ber Derek Wakefield-Brown shared a few words about how his vision was

viewed as pie in the sky to start with, how it was established, and how it

nearly all fell apart until he met ‘some wise men from the East’ on Robins-

wood Hill ten years ago and the farm was saved from closure.

Girls Group

Ed Lines

Oh ye with little faith! Those who remem-ber my bit in the last newsletter saw me edging my bets on which cricket team would win the world cup. Well, whilst we waited for the bride and groom at a friends wedding to enter, we saw Sir Ben hit the runs to win us the World Cup. What was I worried about. BUT since then my sporting experiences have rather gone downhill. We have just lost the Ashes, Man Utd are back to the team I was supporting in the 80’s and Im-ran beat me in the unofficial male egotisti-cal shooting trip competition. All that and the continued success of Liverpooh (not a spelling mistake) makes for a long and un-bearable season. And as I wallow in self pity I wonder if there is still a competitive spirit amongst the youngsters still? Is there, that almost tribal rivalry amongst opposing supporters? Do they still have that passion to win at all costs (obviously legally and not including violence)? Do they have that competitive spirit whilst on the Xbox (other consoles are available) whilst playing FIFA or Fort-nite. Perhaps not! What I do know is that these consoles and smart phones and other technology has reduced the numbers of participants in sports like cricket, snooker and even foot-ball. Sports that had many divisions and competitions, but now sadly have very few. Kids would rather now wear headsets in-stead of a pair of Puma Kings (what do you mean they are not in fashion anymore—Classic Boot). Let’s try and change this. Pick a sport. Any Sport. And try and get out and play! You will defo notice the difference. TTFN Shoaib Editor

Dads & Lads

Do, send in sugges-tions for anything that you think will be worth trying.

We are always

looking for new things to try out!

Bren’s Garden Party (actually its in The Park)

The British Empire Medal award and a respective celebration.

I have decided to hold an informal drop in at the Rotunda at

Gloucester Park where people can just pop along for as lit-

tle or as long as they wish. This will be on Friday the 4th of

October, during the following times :

10.00am until 11.30am

12.30 until 2.00pm

2.30pm until 4.00pm

4.30pm until 6.00pm

The Rotunda is next to the birdcage.

Please share.

Please see the Annual Report for the FC and the City

Farm for 2018-19 via the link below:

https://thefriendshipcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/

Friendship-Caf%C3%A9-Annual-Report-2019-FINAL-LoRes.pdf

An afternoon in Longhope was spent at Chesgrove Shooting School. The boys tried

their hands at clay pigeon shooting.

St James City Farm & Riding School

Manure – free to collect, just turn up at the farm. We have loads every day, so

please feel free to come to collect. It will help us with clearing it each week.

Our lessons are only £5 each (for 20mins) and subsidised at

this rate to give mainly children from the inner city a chance

to learn their basic riding, something they would generally

not be able to do. If you want your child to learn, please

email imran@thefriendshipcafé.com or call 01452308127 /

305728 and leave your contact details, and one of our in-

structors will contact you when a place becomes available.

For further information, please contact Imran on 01452 308127 or

imran@thefriendshipcafe.com

Well done to Rhiannon Naish who has been accepted at

the University of Nottingham vet school. Rhiannon did

work experience at City farm last year and has sent us a

lovely pic of herself and a thank you note – we wish her

well and look forward to seeing her fully qualified.

Thank you to Sophie Leech, profes-

sional race horse trainer who has been

mentoring our pony racing children.

Whistle and Saleem Pirate will hopefully

be racing at Wolverhampton Race-

course on September 22nd. We have

three riders from City Farm: Hedaya,

Aamilah and Reo, in partnership with

Bourton Vale Equestrian Centre.

Sophie (third from left) in the group

pic.

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/sport/racing/meet-inner-city-teenagers-barton-3200114?

utm_source=sharebar&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sharebar

Read the above Gloucestershire Live article by Racing correspondent Mellissa Jones who came and

interviewed our trainee jockeys.

P.S. Humble Horseman aka Imran is now back in the saddle following his ankle break.

Our lessons are only £5 each (for 20mins) and subsidised at

this rate to give mainly children from the inner city a chance

to learn their basic riding, something they would generally

not be able to do. If you want your child to learn, please

or call 01452308127 /

305728 and leave your contact details, and one of our in-

structors will contact you when a place becomes available.

For further information, please contact Imran on 01452 308127 or

SPA TREAT FOR CARERS AT FC On 11th July, a group of 18 Carers enjoyed a Spa morning

and buffet lunch at the Friendship Café. This was funded

by Carers Glos as a follow-up to the Positive Caring Pro-

gram delivered last year.

A couple of rooms were transformed to produce a spa-

like ambience with visual and sensory delights to create a

relaxing, peaceful oasis of tranquility. Vareta Bryan from

Arbonne, kindly volunteered to provide a workshop

demonstrating and getting the ladies involved in treat-

ments such as facials and hand massage. She used

products containing pure plant based ingredients that

include botanicals from nature. They are vegan, halal and

free from animal cruelty.

Each Carer was given a welcome mock-tail and intro-

duced to the program by Razeya who organised the

event. They were all given the opportunity to benefit

from an individual massage treatment given by one of the

3 qualified therapists that were recruited for the event. It

was hoped that this would help alleviate some of the

stress of everyday caring.

The morning ended with henna painting and a delicious buffet

lunch. Each carer was given a goody bag containing treats to take

home.

The event was a super success with some excellent feedback from

the carers who stated that they had a wonderful time, felt pampered

and also valued. They commented that the break provided an op-

portunity for them to meet other carers in a safe and comfortable

venue and have re-

quested further ses-

sions.

A big thank-you to everyone involved.

Well done to Rhiannon Naish who has been accepted at

the University of Nottingham vet school. Rhiannon did

work experience at City farm last year and has sent us a

we wish her

Read the above Gloucestershire Live article by Racing correspondent Mellissa Jones who came and

Event & Notices

DIY JOBS

Contact Imran

01452 308127

If you can help with

DIY tasks – there are

always plenty of jobs

to be done at The Farm

or at The Friendship

Café @ Chequers

Event & Notices

English Language Café. July 2019.

Greetings all. By the time you read this report, classes will have broken up for the summer and started again.

We have had a fantastic time with our students this term, covering question tags and trying to master the correct use of the simple past tense.

Iris kindly organised the end of year summer excursion to Rococo Gardens and we were very fortunate to have a beautiful summer day to enjoy the real life postcard countryside scenes which we sometimes take for granted.

The students were in awe of the various sculptures, different flowering plants and breath taking views of the Cotswold Countryside that are just on our doorstop.

Iris and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ayesha (Co-ordinator) for facilitating the successful growth of this Language Café and also to Farhanah & Mary from Fairshares for sending students our way.

Further to student requests we look forward to starting lessons from September 2019 again as students have found the extra practice/tuition as a useful aid to existing Adult Education/Gloscol/Garas classes they attend.

Wishing you all a sunny summer. Zulekha & Iris.

“Thank you for organising

the trip today. It was a lovely

day with our friends. I did

enjoy very much”

Firozeh.

“It was fantastic today, I re-

ally loved it “

Mariama.

Healthy kidneys?

True or false - people with a South Asian background are three times more likely to get kidney failure? Unfortunate-

ly, it is true, and it is linked to the higher rate of diabetes and high blood pressure in these communities. Why?

Probably genetic, but it is true and needs to be understood.

Across the UK one in twenty will get a problem with their kidneys, and it is serious. The chances are that you know

someone affected. When it gets bad there are only two treatments - dialysis or a kidney transplant. If someone

decides to go for a transplant, as I have, you can have either a "living donation" from someone who can spare one of

their kidneys, or one from someone who has passed away but wanted to give a gift of life to another person.

In any transplant the body's natural reaction is to reject it, so there needs to be match of sorts, and powerful drugs

are needed to help it work. The important point is that people don't need to be related, they just need to a reasona-

ble match.

There is a great shortage of organs, and people die because of this. The law in England is changing next year, and it

will now presume that every adult has given their consent, unless they have actually said that they don't want this.

So if you want to save lives by giving your organs then that will be easy, but if you don't want to do this just make it

clear by filling in a form. However, in all cases the wishes of the surviving close relative will be considered, so make

sure they know what you want them to do - it is not something they should guess.

Kidney disease is serious, confusing and frightening, and people get really down. Some years ago kidney patients

and their families got together to help each other and formed the "Gloucestershire Kidney Patients' Associa-

tion" (GKPA). The hospital provides excellent medical care, but sometimes people want more, such a support and

understanding from those who have been through it. Lily is now chairman of GKPA and they welcome new mem-

bers, whether patients or family. It's free, and keeps you up to date with what's going on. Please get in touch if you

want to know more.

Geoff and Lily Gidley—gloskpa@gmail.com

Dates For Diary September 23rd Spirit Of Peace—Bring & Share 7 for 7.30pm start Work of Spirit of Peace

Event & Notices

https://localgiving.org/charity/thefriendshipcafe-cityfarm/

DONATE TODAY

Now that the BT My

Donate page has

ceased to exist, we

have created a Local-

Giving Page where you

can donate a one off

payment or set up a

monthly direct debit.

MUCH APPRECIATED!

Art in the Aftermath - Exhibition

An inspirational exhibition of work by injured soldiers and veterans has opened

in Kings Walk

Art In The Aftermath' features paintings, drawings, photos, poetry and films in

a special pop-up exhibition.

It is presented by Gloucestershire charity 'Style For Soldiers' which was set up

by menswear designer Emma Willis, to provide clothing for injured military

personnel.

Entry is free and the exhibition runs until Christmas, at the former Co-op

store, opposite WH Smith.

https://www.punchline-gloucester.com/articles/aanews/inspirational-art-exhibition-by-injured-

soldiers-comes-to-gloucester

https://www.styleforsoldiers.com/pages/art-in-the-aftermath-1

Thank You

Many thanks to Gloucestershire Farmers NFU Trust who have got together

to give a generous donation of £500 towards completing one of our pad-

docks for animals to graze on.

Again, we also thank Gloucester Rotarians who have sponsored us £850

towards a secure bike storage area at Friendship. Both of the above fun-

ders have been supporters of our work for a number of years!