Who are we?
We are The Russell Nurseries and Jim's Pitch Community Association, who currently take care of the needs of the residents of the Russell Nurseries Estate and the wider Camden Community.
We do this in many ways. Such as estate management issues, liaising with the local authority. Or through events, activities and services provided to reduce food poverty and isolation, empower the users and make them feel welcome in a world that's not so simple.
We have a tenant's hall (The Aspern Centre) that we use to provide these activities events and services in particular: Youth activities with Jim's Kids Club 0-17 and The Butterfly Sanctuary where people with chronic illnesses or issues such as loneliness and isolation can come together in a warm safe place to socialise and do activities and maybe even grab a bite to eat.
Activities we offer.
We wanted to be completely user led (idea wise) and asked the youths what activity they would most like to do.
Many said yes to boxing, in fact all the youth agreed to Boxing.
(A first for everything I suppose!)
So, we went out in the rain and raised £200 to get boxing gloves and pads. This was before we even had a place to call home like the Aspern Centre!
The kids came and used them but obviously were desperate for leadership.
So, after the AGM, we looked into our finances and discovered that we could cover the costs of a Box Fitness instructor and it was money well spent. The kids rose to the occasion, they bonded, and the rest is history. They meet every Thursday between 6-7pm and do the most difficult workouts and never complain! (How wonderful to be young!)
These kids have gone from hanging about in the street, to participating in an activity with such discipline, you can't help but be proud of them!
What's more is that each of them is over coming sensory challenges or are living with someone who is. They are determined to strengthen their cores whilst building on their values and friendships, some of which are very difficult for children to do.
2 of our members have Dyspraxia. Others have ADHD and/or ASD but this does not stop them at all! Majority who attend come from backgrounds that are difficult, we are in the Gospel Oak ward of Camden Borough, which means we are in the top 20% of most deprived areas. It makes it very difficult to fund raise in an area that is already desperate for services and funding itself!
Learning to skip was a challenge at first, but they ploughed through and are now skipping on one foot!
Something they couldn't do before coming to the sessions!
Every week these guys improve and every few weeks we get another member join in the fun!
We are a voluntary run charitable organisation that relies on donations and funding from the public or through fundraising activities, so do not have the funds to get the children their own uniforms like a 'real club' or to get them boxing gloves and equipment that actually cater to their needs.
On top of that, we don't know how long we can keep funding the facilitator on our own and are desperate to keep this already bonded group together for as long as possible.
The equipment that we need are:
Various gloves and pads (sizes)
A multi bag stand that can be set up and packed away for sessions inside or out in good weather.
skipping ropes (as many as we can get, always disappearing for some reason)
Work out mats for floor exercises as we are using connecting squares from our children's section as a temporary measure. They deserve better, but we are not in a position to give it to them!
Community impact
Our impact as an organisation is growing everyday as the situations in people's lives seem to worsen on the outside, we can give them a place to feel warm and welcome to come together.
We also run event nights and will be running Christmas movie nights, Bingo and other fun activities to get the community together. A pic from our Halloween event!
We are also in the process of setting up a breakfast club, where the children eat free before they go to school and a homework club for a quiet place to study. Something we know is an extremely hard assets to find.
We supply 10 people every Tuesday with a warm meal and have space for more at least 30 more!
We campaigned for the redevelopment of our local football pitch and raised £60000 o rebuild and update into a MUGA with an eye to developing the picnic area in the very near future.
Community gardening
And under 8's play sessions!
And we hope to do so much more!
Why are we crowdfunding?
As a voluntary charitable organisation, we have been finding it difficult to gather donations as the cost of living and energy prices rise. We have so much going on at RNJPCA at the moment with one service/activity/event to the next, but we 100% want to get these children the equipment they need to excel and make them feel like they are important enough to have such things in the first place. yes, sadly some of them don't feel that they have much of a future. But we are showing them that they can and will!
Again, we live in one of the top 20 most deprived areas (Gospel Oak ward, Camden) so times are hard for all.
We do not charge a fee for this service either so are literally stuck with no way to move forward as quickly as needed.
That's why any donation from you would be so gratefully accepted and used to enrich an otherwise struggling young person's life.
How we’ll spend the money raised
Completely and utterly on getting the professional sports equipment that the guys need to ensure they have a chance to excel and feel proud of their achievements.
We would purchase,
gloves, pads, skipping ropes, gym mats, and to cover the instructor to stay for another year! Or as long as we can have him!
The children have bonded, and Coach Jean is such an excellent mentor in not only sports but life that we just don't want to let him get away!
Thank you for taking the time to read about our project and we hope that you have enjoyed reading about us. Any help you can offer would be fantastic and would be helping us build the dreams of those who may need just a little extra encouragement!
How you can play your part
There are four simple ways to help us reach our target and make this project a reality.
1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!
2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.
3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!
4. If you want to run your own fundraiser to support us, maybe a sponsored activity or similar, use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!