Palace Club 2024: Support Hackney's Elders

Aim

The Palace Club is our unique project for Hackney's over 65s. We are raising funds so we can continue to run our sessions in Jan-Mar 2024.

Who are we?

Chats Palace Arts Centre is located just off Homerton High Street. Our ground floor comprises a café and hall, both of which are fully accessible. As an arts centre delivering an essential civic programme we offer safe, inspiring surroundings for all local residents, with comfy sofas and armchairs, crafting areas and art/photography exhibitions by local artists.

A comment on our 2023 crowdfunder says it better than we can:

'in these times of hardship and loneliness, and within the older community, Chats Palace Arts Centre can literally be a 'life saver', in more ways than one'

Why are we crowdfunding?

We are seeking to raise additional funds through this crowdfunder so we can carry on delivering Palace Club sessions in Jan - March 2024. With hot drinks and hot food provided in the warm, familiar environment of our arts centre we will be able to support our Elders’ community to build individual and collective confidence that they can get through the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Each Tuesday we will offer a range of arts and well-being activities, from Chair Pilates to Drama workshops. Our amazing group of older residents have told us that this simple set-up is highly effective in encouraging them to stay active in their community and goes a long way to improving their health and well-being. A DBS certificated Hub Leader is present throughout each session, making sure everyone is safe, feels welcome and has access to information on other local initiatives in our network which can offer additional support, such as food boxes.

Community impact

Our commitment to working with Hackney’s Elders (age 65+yrs) began in 2018. The Palace Club (https://chatspalace.com/the-palace-club/) is our weekly open-to-all programme offering a range of stimulating, enjoyable arts and well-being activities at our fully accessible building off Homerton High Street. Including a nutritious hot lunch, this programme is provided free of charge. 

Our Elders programme began 2018 and is now essential part of Homerton life for local older people. The Palace Club currently has 100+ active members with 30 Elders attending each week: other house-bound Elders are reached weekly by phone and email. Our goal is that by March 2025 we will be supporting 200 local Elders still living in their own homes. Our core objective is to help this often-silenced community to feel more visible and cared for, through a project that is delivered with their co-partnership, by local people in their neighborhood. 

 Participant Feedback (2022/23): 

'Thank you for a great morning. Loved the group, the activities, and the food'

'I very much enjoyed learning new ways of singing, new exercises, and the interaction with everyone in the group'

'Thank you for making us feel so special'

How we’ll spend the money raised

We are seeking to raise £1200 to continue to provide The Palace Club free of charge to all of Hackney's Elders:.

£1200 will cover the cost of  4 x Tues 10am – 2pm (4hrs) club sessions incl hot lunches:

• 8 well-being/art sessions 
• 120 hot meals 
• Unlimited hot drinks and biscuits 

Every additional £300 raised over target will enable us to extend delivery of the Palace Club for a further 1 week.

Every additional £1200 raised over target will enable us to extend delivery of the Palace Club for a further 1 month.

This project successfully funded on 27th December 2023