"I don't know where we'd be without Time & Talents in this area...it's been going such a long time...you can start as a toddler and go right up to my age, and even older...!" 

Joan, aged 82, Time & Talents volunteer and member of the Singing for Better Health and Strength & Balance (falls prevention) group.

Time & Talents is a special kind of community centre. We know that ‘community’ doesn’t just happen by itself. It has to be nurtured, supported, and brought together. Most of all, the most isolated and vulnerable people in our society can so easily be left out. And for 132 years, T&T has been working to make sure that nobody is left out, and that everybody feels part of a community.

Founded in 1887 to support the people of Rotherhithe and Bermondsey, today we are needed more than ever. Researchers warn of an epidemic of loneliness and isolation in the UK, especially amongst older people; many of our community spaces like libraries have closed; and our curent political climate can create fear and misunderstanding between different groups in society, including between generations. In this context, we believe that our approach of pro-actively bringing together different groups for fun, friendships, and mutual support is absolutely vital to create happy, healthy, connected communities where everyone is included.  

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Help us go green, reduce our energy bills and support more local residents 

Installing solar panels was recommended to us by two independent energy-saving experts, Carbon Trust and Parity Projects. By putting 21 solar panels on our community centre roof, we will:

• Fight climate change – the solar panels will cut our current electricity consumption by over 50% (producing enough energy each year to boil water for 316,650 cups of tea!), and will reduce our CO2 emissions by over a third (3.29 tonnes annually)
• Reduce our energy bills – by £726 every year
• Support more local residents – the money we save will go directly into running our groups and activities

Through the money saved on energy costs, Time & Talents will be able to do more of the work we love, creating fun, friendship and mutual support, like this: 

Just some of the ways that Time & Talents brings people together are by running:

• social, art, wellbeing and learning-based activities for all ages
• targeted activities working with people with high levels of need, such as isolated elderly people and disabled groups
• fun and educational groups for children and families 
• universal wider projects and events, like our community parties, which bring hundreds of local people from different backgrounds together, twice each year  

And we take our community centre out into the local community through our:

• Befriending service, which provides friendship and companionship to housebound older people
• Partnerships with local schools
• Involvement in local projects and festivals like Illuminate Rotherhithe and the Grand Ceilidh project 
• Cycling Without Age project, which takes housebound older people for 'joyrides' in local green spaces on specially adapted cycle rickshaws, so they can get outside and 'feel the wind in their hair'!  

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Receive a special reward as a thank you for giving to the Crowdfunder. You can choose to either donate to our Crowdfunder campaign, or pledge a specific amount in exchange for a reward. Rewards have been donated by local businesses and made lovingly by T&T volunteers, such as goodies grown in our gardens by our Green Team (where people feel better through gardening, cooking and eating together), and made in the Rotherhithe Shed, (which brings together older folks to put their practical skills to good use – fixing, making, whittling, drilling, sawing). 

We think our rewards will make special and meaningful Christmas presents (for your friends, family or colleagues, or for yourself!) and we hope you agree! See below and on the right hand side of the page for more information: 

More rewards will be announced during the course of our Crowdfunder campaign, so please keep checking back on this page and follow Time & Talents on social media, for exciting updates! 

Rewards can all be collected from Time & Talents, SE16 4JE, or in most cases, delivered within the U.K. Please email [email protected] with any queries. 

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A big thankyou to our local business sponsors for providing rewards :

1. Printworks: 2 pairs of tickets to the night of your choice at Canada Water's premier live and electronic music venue

2. Bodytonic clinic: 3 x 45-minute massage vouchers

3. Fourpure Brewery company: 3 x Bermondsey brewery tour for 2 people and 3 x a case of Fourpure's Jet lager

4. The Pear Tree restaurant & deli: £50 voucher for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, or cake! 

5. Leadbelly's Bar & Kitchen: 3-course meal for 2 people, 4 cocktails, and/or a bottle of wine

6. Fitness Space Surrey Quays: Reward coming soon!

7. DoubleTree by Hilton Docklands: Afternoon tea for 2 at this stylish venue, offering sensational views across the Thames and Canary Wharf.

8. Zeitgest London: Reward coming soon!

More information on the right hand side of the page.

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Rewards from the Time & Talents Garden: thanks to the wonderful volunteers who grew, picked, prepared, bottled and baked these mouth-watering treats! All of these rewards can be collected from Time & Talents, SE16 4JE, or posted within the U.K. (except the curd, which needs to stay refridgerated, so is collection only).

Shown in the picture:

Top row, left - right:

1. Green Tomato Chutney: made with organic tomatoes grown in the Time & Talents garden by our Green Team     

2. Sloe Gin: Infused with sloe berries hand-foraged in Surrey Quays woodland 

3. Shortbread Star Tree: melt-in-the-mouth shortbread (also a table decoration if you can resist temptation long enough!)

Bottom row, left - right:

4. Mini Christmas Fruit Cake: classic fruit cake with brandy and spices, covered with a layer of sweet almond marzipan and soft white icing.

5. Crab Apple Jelly: Made with organic crab apples from the Time & Talents garden by our Green Team

6. Crab Apple Curd: Made with organic crab apples grown by the Green Team in Time & Talents' garden   

All can be collected from Time & Talents. All except the curd can be posted within the UK (curd collection only as needs to stay refridgerated).

More information in the Rewards section.

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Please support our Solar for Time & Talents Crowdfunder and help us do more of the work we love, creating fun, friendship and mutual support: