SWALLOW arrives in Twerton! We are delighted to announce that we are now running activities at Twerton

Village Hall, Landseer Road, Twerton, Bath, BA2 1DX, 10am - 2pm on

Tuesday and Wednesday each week.

On Tuesdays the group enjoy life skills training. This includes shopping,

cookery and budgeting. On a Wednesday the group open a cafe called “The

Chirpy Cafe” for the general public to enjoy. The group, previously run by Bath

Mencap, would be thrilled to see some friendly faces so please pop in on a

Wednesday from 11am to see them.

For further information on this exciting new SWALLOW venture please call

Caroline on 01761 414034 or email CarolineT@swallowcharity.org .

Page 2 Supported Housing

Courses

Page 3 Courses continued

Work Skills

Enterprise Scheme

Page 4 AGM

Page 5 Fundraising

Page 6 Base House

Youth Club

Dates for your Diary

SWALLOW Annual General Meeting The SWALLOW Annual General Meeting was held at Chilcompton Village Hall on

Wednesday 11th December, and was packed to the brim with a farewell to Tim Watson as

Chair of Trustees, the annual drama performance and the drawing of the Grand

Christmas Raffle prizes.

Full report and more photos inside...

Newsletter January 2014

Newsletter January 2014 Page 2

Redfield Road Garden Makeover The Redfield Road tenants are thrilled that

work is about to start on their garden

makeover. Lazy Days Landscaping will be

installing a pond with water feature and

wall. The wall will include mosaic

decorations which are to be created by the

tenants. When the project is complete (and

the weather is a bit warmer) the tenants

hope to host a garden party.

This project has only been possible thanks to donations from Friends Together and

Heather Mallet.

Supported Housing

Songbirds “On Friday afternoon we choose all kinds of

karaoke CDs that we sing along to. Roger

has a great selection of music and we also

bring our own to share. I bring my own

microphone and stand. I also take all kinds

of costumes to wear so I can really

get in the mood.” Daniel Bates

To join Songbirds (on Friday at the

office or with John on Wednesday in

Chilcompton) please contact Judy on

01761 414034.

Art “We love being in the Friday art group.

We draw and colour in our special art

books. We use our imaginations from

our minds and our hearts and get a

chance to express our feelings. Paul

is in the group and he makes us all laugh.”

Daniel Bates and Sarah Tarrant

Keynsham “In art we made crackers and hats during

first part of the morning and the cookery

group prepared party food and made mince

pies. We then played bingo and Ann played

her guitar and we all sang carols together.”

Claire Cashman Senior Support Worker

Courses

Work Skills Enterprise Scheme

Newsletter January 2014 Page 3

“In October the Work Skills members

invited friends and family to a CVQ

qualification presentation event to help

them celebrate the success of them all

passing the award. It was a big

achievement for every member of the group

and involved 6 months of hard work to

complete 8 units of work covering subjects

such as Teamwork skills, Health and Safety

in the workplace and environmental

awareness.

On several occasions the group have put

their food health and safety knowledge to

good practice preparing food for staff

meetings and SWALLOW events.

The members have also been exceedingly

busy creating crafts and cards to sell on

their craft stalls. In 2013 They had set

themselves the target of running 20 stalls in

the year in SWALLOW’s 20 for 20 year and

they wanted to beat last year’s takings

target. They have achieved both targets.”

Maggie Blake,

Employment Support Co-ordinator

“We have had a good harvest this year from our garden at Base House and our raised

beds in Westfield, with plenty of beans, salad crops, leeks, onions and beetroot to take

home to share with families. The foundations are currently being prepared for our new

greenhouse at Base House which will be put up at the end of January. This will be big

enough to work in during inclement weather. We can’t wait!”

Georgi Millar and Maggie Blake

Horticulture WSES

Courses continued

Boogie Nights - Keynsham We are launching our popular, weekly

Boogie Nights sessions in Keynsham from

Monday 10th February between 7pm and

9pm at Keynsham Rugby Club. The cost is

£7 per person. Come along and keep fit

whilst learning to dance and meeting friends.

Call Judy on 01761 414034 to book.

Please note that Boogie Nights in Westfield

will still continue on Thursdays between

7pm and 9pm.

Football “The football

club, that trains

on Monday

evening at

Chilcompton

Village Hall, is going fantastically well and

we are becoming stronger and better. In

November we play a match against a Yeovil

team. We hope to play other matches with

visiting teams in 2014.” Zyolela Chanda

Newsletter January 2014 Page 4

Annual General Meeting

Grand Christmas Raffle

Farewell to Tim

The AGM is a great opportunity for

SWALLOW supporters and members to

come together and reflect on the year that

has just gone. The Trustee Board made

their usual financial statements and

reported on all that SWALLOW has

achieved. before the SWALLOW Drama

Club took to the stage with a wonderful

production of The Jungle Book with Josh

Thatcher starring as Mowgli and a fabulous

supporting cast. Special mention to the

headdresses which were a great way of

creating a herd of elephants, tigers, bears

and monkeys.

The SWALLOW Grand Christmas Raffle raised a

wonderful £1307! Thank you to everyone who

bought and sold tickets, and a huge thanks to the

companies (including Mulberry, Agusta Westland

and Truly French) and individuals who donated

the fantastic prizes.

After 7 years on the board of Trustees and

6 years as Chair, we said a sad farewell to

Tim Watson. Tim is relocating to Surrey to

be closer to his family. We will miss his

invaluable contribution to SWALLOW. We

are very glad that Chris Winpenny has

been voted the new Chair of Trustees.

Chris has been involved with SWALLOW

for the past 19 years and he is perfectly

placed to help steer us through the next phase of our development.

Newsletter January 2014 Page 5

Dinner4Good - Recipes for Life We have signed up to a new fundraising initiative

called Dinner4Good. Simply sign up online

(www.dinner4good.com/swallow) to host a dinner party, invite

your friends and ask them to make a donation to SWALLOW in

return for their dinner. A selection of recipes from the Recipes

for Life challenge will be on the website and we hope that people

will have fun whilst supporting our work.

Fundraising & Marketing

Bath Half Marathon 2014 In 2013 the Bath Half Marathon runners raised

over £10,000 for SWALLOW which was a record

breaking amount. This year the Bath Half

Marathon with take place on Sunday 2nd

March

and SWALLOW has 22 wonderful runners! Along

with Bath University students we have Lily’s fiancé

(with two of his friends) running, and James

Rutherford, husband to Trustee Keziah. We wish

them the best of luck with their training and

fundraising and look forward to cheering them all

on the day.

Twenty for 20 Fundraising Campaign Our Twenty for 20 fundraising campaign has seen members, staff and supporters

participate in a range of activities from a sponsored silence to hosting an afternoon tea.

Since the last newsletter the following events and people have joined in:

Sandra - saved all her 20ps to reach a total of £20

Leanne - raised £200 from a sponsored swim

Jess - raised £80 by reading 20 books in 20 weeks

Mrs Thomas - saved her loose change and raised £100

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all those that have taken part so far!

You can still join in the fundraising and we’d love to hear your ideas, no matter how big

or small every penny really does make a huge difference to our work.

STOP PRESS...STOP PRESS...STOP PRESS Evaluation Day will be on Thursday 27

th February at The Church Tea Rooms, Radstock, 10am-

3pm. All welcome please let Judy know if you will be attending. Come and help plan our future.

Base House

New Arrivals Welcome to our new staff and volunteers:

Lindsey Andrews - Twerton Group Leader

Pamela Beable - Work Skills (Craft) volunteer

Megan Devenney-Bridges - Work Skills (Horticulture) volunteer

SWALLOW The Old Engine House Old Pit Road Midsomer Norton BA34BD 01761414034 info@swallowcharity.org www.swallowcharity.org Reg Charity No: 1045893 Company No: 3034328

Newsletter January 2014 Page 6

Dates for your Diary...

22nd January Ladies Night, Jewellery Making

23rd-24th January Greenhouse erected at

Base House

24th January Men’s Night, Mary Poppins

13th February Fun Club Valentine’s Disco

27th February Evaluation Day

Youth Club " Youth Club had lots of fun last term doing

activities like singing karaoke, going to a cafe

for a drink and going for a Christmas meal at

the Nettlebridge. The group played Christmas

games and won prizes."

Lily - Youth Leader

" Base House celebrated Christmas with a party at the Radstock Hotel. The buffet was delicious! Lucy, Daniel and Matthew won the skittles and we also had a game of charades.”

Claire Cashman Senior Support Worker

“I am one of the youngest members SWALLOW has ever

had and I like learning with them, they help me a lot. It’s

great fun to stay at Base House, I love going to Boogie

Nights. I would recommend SWALLOW to anyone.” Jessica