Free Hot Soup and Activities

We are excited to announce our Warmer Nights project, supported by our partner Cadent, which will provide 12 weeks of hot soup, warm and activities for local people this Winter for free.

Starting from Monday 30^th January, The Well Community Centre will welcome everyone to the following:

Mondays

• 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm FREE Hot Soup during the CommuniTEA Café extended opening hours
• 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm Drop-in boardgames session for children aged 9-19 years supervised by 2 qualified Youth Workers
• 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm Women’s Fitness
• 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm Inclusive Gentle Yoga for men and women

Wednesdays

• 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm FREE Hot Soup during the CommuniTEA Café extended opening hours
• 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm Community Choir (for 10 weeks only)

Cadent, and their contract partner Morrisons Energy Services already support BDCA’s Family Hub project providing families on low income with advocacy, debt and benefits advice, cooking and crafts workshops.

A roundup of Festive Joy!

Celebration is one of our core values at Bonny Downs: celebrating joy even in the midst of life’s hardships. With the cold winter and rising costs of living, we need joy more than ever. And over the Christmas period, our staff and volunteers provided joy through a variety of events to over 300 residents! Below is a summary of the amazing festive activities that brought local residents a few hours of joy away from the hardships they face.

Food Bank Christmas Party

On 14^th December, 35 locals, 8 volunteers and 6 staff members were treated to a beautiful five-star Christmas Lunch service by the Catering and Hospitality teams from ExCeL London. It was an amazing traditional Christmas meal with all the trimmings and they served all our guests with great respect and professionalism. Alongside this, ExCeL also donated a generous £5,000 for our Community Response project.  We are so grateful to Natalie Sykes and her team at ExCeL.

One attendee said, “Thank you for today, the food was lovely, and everyone has been so kind. It’s also good to see the volunteers enjoy the meal too after working so hard throughout the year.”

Family Hub Christmas Celebration

On 15^th December, over 40 Family Hub members gathered as one big family and hosted a Bring and Share Christmas lunch, complete with Christmas crackers and music. From puff puffs, biriyani and pakoras, it was a feast… someone even home brewed non-alcoholic wine! This was a great way to end and celebrate a year together and sharing the joys and challenges faced along the way.

A big thank you to Cadent and Masonic who fund our Family Hub project and made this possible.

Youth Christmas Party

That same evening, over at the Bobby Moore Pavilion, 35 young people enjoyed the annual Christmas party. This year had a few unique additions due to the lovely snowfall. The party had music, pizza, snacks as well as fun activities and games for young people. And for those who were daring enough to take part, a snowball fight, and a football match in the snow!

 One young attendee said, “I really enjoyed the Christmas party, I really liked the snowball fight. I can’t wait for the next party!”

Interfaith Christmas Garden Party 

Over 100 residents attended our Interfaith event at our Community Garden on 17^th December. They enjoyed listening to the choir signing around a log fire, planting Spring bulbs and even a guest appearance from Mother Christmas!

Our long-term regular garden volunteer, Maryam, said, “It was a great event, and so busy. Lots of new faces of all ages came and enjoyed it.”

Over 65’s Christmas Party

On Tuesday 20^th December, over 70 people attended our Over 65s Christmas Celebration Party. It included a three-course meal, drinks, and snacks, lots of disco dancing in the afternoon followed by mince pies & mulled wine, and even a little gift to take away.

A big thank you goes to the three wonderful volunteers from Our Newham Money, the event would not have been possible without them. Thank you also to one of our guests who kindly donated towards the party.

Guests Ghislaine and Mark Baron thoroughly enjoyed the celebration and said, “Folks looked jolly and bright in their outfits. The atmosphere was very Christmassy and good spirited.  Everyone was of good cheer. The Christmas meal was tasty. We had a boogie down in Wonderland and modelled for the photo opportunity. We were given a box of chocolate each to take home to forget all the aches and pains to come. Sitting at home rubbing our painful joints with painkiller gel, we remember this Christmas at the Well with a smile because we had a jolly good time! Looking forward to the next one. Thanks once again for all you do for us elderly folks.”

Festive Football

Over 4 generations of one family joined the annual Festive Football event on 27^th December 2022, with James Cordery debuting at just 9 years old. It was a very close game with the final score of 8-9 to our chairman Dave’s team (no bias, we promise!) Great fun was had by players and spectators alike.

Christmas Closures 2022

The Well Community Centre will be closed in the festive period from Saturday 24th December 2022 and will re-open Tuesday 3rd January 2023.

Below are the last dates of our sessions and information on our special events. If unsure of anything, please contact the relevant team listed in our What’s On page.

Read more “Christmas Closures 2022” →

Our Impact Report 2022

Our 2022 Impact Report is packed full of information and personal stories about our recent work. 

These stories of hope and progress should give us all a reason to smile!

Read more “Our Impact Report 2022” →

Interfaith Christmas Celebration

Our Community Garden is hosting another wonderful Christmas celebration free for all!

Come and enjoy some fun activities and meet your neighbours.

10 am – 2 pm Saturday 17th December at our Community Garden

Read more “Interfaith Christmas Celebration” →

Can you gift a child a smile this Christmas?

The festive season should be a time of joy. But this year, whilst trying to recover from the pandemic and struggling with the rising cost of living, many families in Newham are having to make heartbreaking decisions on whether to put food on the table or warm up their home or watch their child wake up on Christmas morning to no gifts, through no fault of their own.

Read more “Can you gift a child a smile this Christmas?” →

We’re community heroes!

We’re thrilled to announce that BDCA has been named Community Group of the Year at the East London Community Heroes Awards 2022!

Read more “We’re community heroes!” →

BDCA launches new partnership with Cadent!

Bonny Downs Community Association today announced a new partnership with Cadent to help struggling Newham families navigate the cost of living and fuel crises this winter.

Read more “BDCA launches new partnership with Cadent!” →

Our new café is open!

We are so excited to announce that our new CommuniTEA Café is now open at The Well, just in time for the colder weather arriving!

Read more “Our new café is open!” →