Summer’s Here!

Well, what a week it’s been. As you probably all know by now we came second in the Creme of Nature Community Action Award on Sunday and then, suddenly, the weather changed to matched our bright and sunny mood. It seems this much longed for sunshine and warmth is going to continue until the weekend and beyond – dig out the summer clothes!

We’ve only found one free event locally this weekend and a brilliant new exhibition -  it seems London is having a rest before the excesses of events next weekend to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. To celebrate the warmest weekend of the year so far we’ve had a look at our local parks and the larger ones an easy bus-ride away, got the links and put them on this page for you to pick from for a spot of sun worship, a picnic, people watching, wildlife spotting or even a game of tennis!  There are more links to the right of the page if there’s nothing here to interest you. Whatever you do have a great weekend!

On Sunday 27th May  on Arnold Circus from 3 to 5pm the Friends of Arnold Circus have organised their annual Arnold Day and a celebration of the Diamond Jubilee in a very distinctive way. Not only will you get Pavilion Brass, but artist Livvy Fink will be on hand to lead an activity, making diamonds to hang on a large structure created by children at Virginia Primary School. The Bengali Women’s Group at St Hilda’s are making diamond-shaped glittery biscuits, and Rochelle Canteen will be donating a batch of their special Arnold Biscuits. See the FOAC website for more information.

Alan Dein, a noted and respected local historian, writer and broadcaster, has an exhibition ‘After You’ve Gone : East End Shopfronts, 1988′ running at the Tower Hamlets Local History Library, Bancroft Road. Alan’s photographs of East End shopfronts were taken in 1988 when many Tower Hamlets streets were on the verge of dereliction.  Find out more about this exhibition at the Tower Hamlets Arts website. The library is open this Saturday, but check the Library webpage for full details of opening hours.

© Alan Dein

Our little corner of the east end where Hackney and Tower Hamlets meet has a great variety of green corners, from the Edwardian loveliness of Arnold Circus to the football pitch heaven (for some!) of Weavers Fields, with city farms and wildflower meadows adding to the mix. Here’s our pick of the best, with a quick rundown of what they offer…

Haggerston Park is just a short stroll away on Hackney Road and offers beautiful gardens, lawns, a pond, sports courts, (including a  BMX track), and Hackney City Farm.

Allen Gardens a green open space perfect for catching the sun and enjoying a picnic before or after visiting the hurly-burly of Brick Lane or the rare breeds at Spitalfields Farm.

Bethnal Green Gardens and nearby Museum Gardens are perfect places to rest during shopping on Bethnal Green Road or Roman Road, or somewhere to get a bit of fresh air and enjoy a picnic after enjoying the delights of the Museum of Childhood.

 Mile End Park is 90 acres of green right in the middle of Tower Hamlets. It has wildflower meadows, ponds, lawns, formal gardens, sports facilities, a leisure centre and an arts pavilion.  It’s the perfect place to enjoy the sun whatever your interests! The Ragged School Museum is nearby too.

Mudchute Park & Farm on the Isle of Dogs is Britain’s biggest city farm, 32 acres of open space that really do feel like the country in the heart of the city, with its own riding stables for the equestrians amongst us. There are picnic areas and a great cafe – it’s the ideal destination for a day out in the country on the 135 bus route!

Shoreditch Park has recently been refurbished and has an adventure playground, ping-pong tables and a boulder for rock climbing amongst the facilities.

Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park is a true urban oasis , with wonderful woodland walks, amazing wildlife and wild plants, all just off the Mile End Road! Take a picnic and immerse yourself in the peace of this wonderful park.

Victoria Park is the Queen of east end parks and London’s oldest public park. a splendid Victorian creation with tree-lined walks, gracious ponds, immaculate flower beds and lush lawns combined with play areas, sports facilities and a great cafe – in short, the perfect traditional park!

The Fountain, Victoria Park

Diamond Jubilee Holiday Information – 2nd to 5th June 2012

The central weekend of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations isn’t far away, so we thought we’d better let you know about our holiday closures:

Saturday 2nd June – Normal Opening Hours

Sunday 3rd June – Closed

Monday 4th June – Closed

Tuesday 5th June – Closed

To find out more about the events taking place over the jubilee weekend visit the Diamond Jubilee website. To find out about transport arrangements visit the Transport for London website.

Although Sunday is not an official Bank Holiday it is the day when most major public events are taking place, including the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant and the Big Jubilee Lunch with street parties, we didn’t want to stop any of our staff from having the opportunity of taking part in any events or having to negotiate the disrupted transport and closed roads in the area. Besides, they deserve a rare weekend day off!

Andy Warhol – Queen Elizabeth II. © Tate Gallery

Festival, festival…

Things have been a bit hectic this week with trying to secure votes for the Community Action Award, so we’ve only managed to track down two free events for this weekend, but we hope you’ll agree they’re pretty special…

Rich Mix hosts another Snapshots Festival on Saturday 19th May: Protest, power, struggle and strife: ¡No Pasarán. This will be a day of films, talks, walk, exhibitions and other activities about the many different protests and struggles that have started in the east end. There are activities for all ages and interests, some will need to be booked. Visit the Rich Mix website for the full details.

© Rich Mix

The 14th Boishakhi Mela takes place around Brick Lane and Weavers Fields on Sunday 20th May. Celebrating Bangladeshi New Year with traditional festivities including a procession, music, dancing and food. The day kicks off with a procession of 300 school children and performing arts groups, and the mela continues on Brick Lane and in Weaver’s Fields with live bands, DJs, a fun-fair, market and food stalls. This year sees the introduction of a youth stage featuring Bollywood singing star Ash King as well as other British Asian and international artists. For full details of the timetable and acts, visit the Boishakhi Mela website.

There is still time to vote for us in the Community Action Awards. If we win it would make such a difference to the customers of the Boundary Estate Community Launderette. We would be able to start our much-needed programme of replacing and upgrading the twenty year old machines. Voting is by text which is charged at normal text rate.The poll closes on Sunday 20th May at midnight.

That’s The Way To Do It…

We’ve searched the listings to find the best free local events but there isn’t too much going on. A little further afield, Covent Garden is holding a May Fayre and Puppet Festival and there’s another Real Food Market at the South Bank Centre. Last weekend the online BBC weather forecast wasn’t exactly trustworthy, fingers crossed that it’s right this weekend when it forecasts sunshine…

This Saturday, 12th May, Toynbee Hall is holding a Spring Community Day from 11am until 4pm. There will be a whole range of activities including arts & crafts workshops, exhibitions and the brilliant ‘Human Library’ – a chance to ‘borrow’ someone with an interesting life story and have a conversation with them. There are also free refreshments! For more details visit the Toynbee Hall website.

The Whitechapel Gallery is hosting a Family Day: The Factory of Confessions on Saturday 12th May, Midday until 4pm. Inspired by Gillian Wearing, artists Rebecca Davies & Eva Sajovic present ‘The Factory of Confessions’, turning the Creative Studio into an exciting hive of activity for families. (Booking is advised). There are also some great exhibitions at the moment, including works from the Government Art Collection. For full details visit the Whitechapel Gallery website.

© Whitechapel Gallery

On Sunday 13th May the Rich Mix Centre will be echoing to the sounds of the Grand Union Youth Orchestra from 10am until 2pm. Led by top professional jazz and world-musicians from the renowned Grand Union Orchestra, the GUYO run free monthly masterclasses and workshops for aspiring young musicians (aged 13 – 25) from all musical cultures. For more details visit the GUYO website. There are also a couple of great exhibitions worth catching, visit the Rich Mix website for details.

© GUYO/Rich Mix

On Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th May, Covent Garden is hosting the 37th May Fayre and Puppet Festival. There will be a whole hos of traditional activities including  dancing around the May Pole, Morris Dancing, music and, naturally, puppet shows. This year  celebrates the 350th anniversary of Mr. Punch, so expect a lot of Punch and Judy fun and mayhem… For full details visit the Covent Garden May Fayre page in Time Out.

© Time Out

If you want more ideas for local places to visit check out the links to the right of the page. Don’t forget that we do service washes so you can make the most of your time!

Have you voted for us yet? We still need votes if we are to win the Creme of Nature Community Action Award that will give us the funds to improve and replace the 20 year-old washing machines. It will make a massive difference to everyone who uses the launderette if we win. We can only with by people texting their vote, (charged at usual message rate), so please text ‘Caa Vote1′ to 0778 620 0960 and encourage your friends to do the same before Sunday 20th May! Thankyou!

May Day Weekend Things…

It’s the May Day Holiday weekend, with many people having a lovely 3 days to relax, (please remember the launderette is closed on Monday 7th May). We’ve found a few free things to do locally, but as it’s a bank holiday we’ve also found a couple of great events a little bit further away but easily reached by bus or by tube. The BBC London weather forecast says it will be cloudy and cool this weekend, but thankfully it might stay dry. Whatever you do this weekend, enjoy yourselves!

Geffrye Museum has its First Saturday Family Day on Saturday 5th May. There’s something for everyone with quizzes, and young people aged 5-11 can have a great time tasting drinking chocolate and painting a mug with 17th-century style patterns. Sessions are 10.30am – 12.30pm and 2.00 – 4.00pm. Young people aged 11-19 can take inspiration from Chinese, Dutch and English ceramics and decorate a plate to take home and use. This session is from 2.00 – 4.00pm. For more information visit the Geffrye Museum website.

Geffrye Museum

This year is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Henry Croft, the original Pearly King who covered his trousers with pearl buttons to draw attention to his charity fund-raising activities, and on Sunday 6th May the largest event of its kind in decades will see the crowning of a new generation of Pearly Kings and Queens. After a blessing at St Martin in the Fields, hundreds of friends, family members and followers, many wearing the famous button-covered outfits, will travel to the Carpenter’s Arms, 135 Cambridge Heath Road to arrive at 2pm. For more information visit the Time Out web page and The Pearlies website

© Time Out London

Rich Mix is hosting ‘The Best of British’ festival until Sunday 6th May, which includes the exhibition ‘A Portrait of British Sub-Culture’ by Paul Spencer. Incorporating music, fashion art & film – our greatest exports – Paul Spencer captures the edge and essence of cult with his oily blue-green otherworldly portraits and atmospheric black & white documentary images of rare and unseen photography. There’s also street artist Cityzenkane’s first solo exhibition. Over the past five years Cityzenkane has added a new dimension to the genre of street art, creating sculptures and attaching them to walls all around London. For more information visit the Rich Mix website.

A Cityzenkane Artwork © Cityzenkane/Rich Mix

The Museum of London Docklands is a great place to visit, and is easily reached on the 135 bus. They have a weekend of activities, with Saturday 5th May being Bring Your Grandparents Day, you can also meet a local resident to find out how Docklands has changed in the past century and find out about local crafts – including having a go at making some yourself . On Monday 7th May there are a whole range of traditional May Day customs and celebrations, with Morris Dancing, making a Jack in the Green and a traditional May Day procession and lots, lots more. You can also hear the legend of Elizabeth Montagu whose young son was allegedly kidnapped for his fine clothes. Years later, she found him working as a chimney sweep and every May Day after that held a feast for all the young chimney sweeps of London. Visit the Museum of London Docklands website for more information.

Model of Canary Wharf © Museum of London Docklands

Way out west, at Little Venice, Saturday 5th to Monday 7th May sees the wonderful Canalway Cavalcade. Besides the fantastic processions and pageants of canal boats, each day there’ll be loads of other fun for all the family with a boaters’ gathering, stalls, bands, kids’ activities, competitions, Morris Dancers, a real ale bar, a wide variety of snacks and food…and much, much more! It’s well worth the trip. By bus you need to get the 26 to Aldwych then the 6 to Maida Vale, or by tube from Liverpool Street to Paddington then change to the Bakerloo line for Warwick Avenue. Visit the IWA Canalway Cavalcade webpage.

Little Venice

Don’t forget that we have links to other free places of interest locally, just check out the links to the right of the web page.

Finally, we still need your help. As a not-for-profit community enterprise our charges are kept to the minimum. This means that we need to fundraise for major expenditure. We have been chosen in the final five of the Creme of Nature Community Action Awards for 2012, and we need your votes. If we win we will be able to start to replace and upgrade the 20 year-old machines.  To help us please Text ‘Caa Vote1′ to 0778 620 0690 – texts are charged at your usual rate. For more information visit the Community Action Award webpage. Thank you!