Support Upper Norwood Library Hub's amazing work

Palace Acappella choir raised £5,205 for Upper Norwood Library Trust in 2024, with an approximate total including gift aid of £6,010.

Celebrating five years of singing at Upper Norwood Library Hub, we launched the fundraiser in April and completed in December 2024. 

Thank you to everyone that donated, took part and supported us! Have a look at our page to see how we raised the money.

Our fundraising journey 

We raised money all year through different challenges and activities: challenges (see above) running, busking, bake sales, raffles and prize draws - and even selling an album!

It's been an amazing fundraising journey: 

• In December, we raised funds and gathered donations at our main Christmas concert.
• In November, Hub Director Jenny took part in a 10km run challenge, and Trustee Katie completed a challenge to walk three marathons in a month (more details below).
• In September the choir completed a big exercise challenge called 'Chariots of Choir' to cover 5,000km in 5 weeks (more details below!)
• In August, choir leader Eleanor Rastall and co-founder Laura Stevens completed a 25km walking challenge in 5 hours (in the pouring rain!)
• In July, we went busking at Crystal Palace Market and livestreamed online, and held a raffle and bake sale at our summer concert.
• In June, the choir completed a ParkRun team challenge in Crystal Palace park (11 x 5km in an hour).

JENNY'S 10KM RUN CHALLENGE - Jenny Irish, Upper Norwood Library Trust Director completed the Victoria Park 10km on Sunday 10th November. She raised **£1055** 🥳

"Thank you to everyone who sponsored me to run my first ever 10k! I’m elated to have managed this as it felt such a long way at the start of my training. It was a fantastic event, cheered on by my family it made me reflect along the way how important a community space the Upper Norwood Library Hub is, bringing people together, strengthening community connections, building skills and opportunities for the future – it truly is a wonderful organisation to be part of. Thanks again and maybe that’s it now, I can call myself a runner!”

KATIE FINN'S THREE MARATHONS IN A MONTH

UNLH Trustee Katie Finn challenged herself to walk three marathons in a month, to raise money for our fundraiser. Katie says:

"To support Upper Norwood Library Trust's brilliant work, I'm challenging myself to walk 79 miles, or the equivalent of three marathons, in a month! My fitness levels are definitely dubious, but this is such a great opportunity to join Palace Acappella's fundraising initiative and support an organisation that does so much for the local community and beyond."

'CHARIOTS OF CHOIR' 5,000KM CHALLENGE - starting on 18th September, members of the choir took part in a big team exercise challenge to run, walk, cycle and swim as many km as we could in five weeks, to see if we could notch up 5,000km for five years of our choir. 🏃 🏊‍♂️ 🚴🚶‍♀️

We walked on our lunchbreaks, cycled to and from work, ran around Crystal Palace park together every Saturday morning at ParkRun, swam lengths in the pool, blasted in the gym, and one person even kayaked somewhere...

And....we did it! Our final total was 5118 km in 5 weeks! 💪

Here's some of us at Crystal Palace ParkRun.

What's it all about?

Upper Norwood Library Hub (UNLH) is a really important community space in Crystal Palace that runs services and programmes to help tackle poverty, isolation and inequality in the area. 

Palace Acappella choir is celebrating its fifth birthday - and five years of singing at UNLH - this year, and we want to make sure the Hub has what it needs to keep making a difference.

How UNLH makes a difference 

Upper Norwood Library Hub runs learning, well-being and arts programmes for adults and children.

These activities provide opportunities to learn skills and be creative, support with loneliness and isolation, it helps children fulfil their potential, encourages healthy and independent lives, and is a 'warm space’ in the winter. 

The Hub's current projects include free English and Maths support for children age 5-8, an energy outreach project offering free 1-to-1 sessions, a series of free exercise classes for older adults, speaking English classes for adults, and skills-based holiday activities for children. You can find out more about all this here.

It's also a venue for classes and groups such as baby sensory, sing & sign, dance, yoga, T'ai Chi, life drawing, ballet and performing arts, and our community choir. Find out more about what's on at the Hub every week here.

All of this activity enriches the lives of people in the local area. 

How is this having an impact?

Over 58,000 people live in the Norwood, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood areas, and last year there were over 200,000 individual visits made to the library and wider community hub services.

It costs £270,000 a year to keep everything going through grant funding and donations. 

In 2023, Upper Norwood Library Hub:

• helped over 2,300 people through charitable programmes,
• gave 586 free places to children on its holiday camp activities,
• provided 99 people with cost of living management support,
• ran wellbeing and arts classes that 300 people attended weekly
• gave energy advice to 442 consumers,
• and provided over 600 ‘warm spaces’ in winter.

The Hub relies on the kindness of its volunteers, supporters, and the local community to keep doing it's fantastic work.

How you can help

Please help by donating to our fundraiser for Upper Norwood Library Trust, the charity behind the Hub.

Your donation could make a real difference:

• £10 could help provide refreshments for sessions which tackle isolation and loneliness, like exercise classes for over 60s.
• £30 might support skills sessions like Digital Inclusion and English-speaking classes.
• £100 could help with running costs for the building and all the facilities it provides to visitors.

What the community says:

"The Hub does so much to help and support people in this community, particularly the creative activities that aren't always available locally, and the Crystal Palace area is so much richer for the services and opportunities it provides." Eleanor Rastall, leader of Palace Acappella 

“Social networking is difficult when you don’t speak English - now it’s getting better... I can speak to my son’s teachers now, which makes me feel happy.” Gorkhan, speaking English student

"Through volunteering with UNLH, I’ve supported scores of newcomers to the UK (and to Crystal Palace!), helping them learn English and so feel more at home here." ESOL Volunteer

"The camps help children to learn new skills in visual and performing arts, make new friends and learn about healthy eating.” Boris Witzenfeld, camps facilitator 

Why this matters to Palace Acappella choir

Five years at UNLH, £5,000 to fundraise!

Palace Acappella choir in Crystal Palace is celebrating its fifth birthday this year. We are a community choir based at the Upper Norwood Library Hub and we’ve been there since day one. It’s not just a place we rehearse at - it’s our home.

The Hub's staff are incredibly supportive, which has been crucial to helping our choir survive through the pandemic and continue thriving today. It's not just a space for our rehearsals, it's a creative and social hub for our members and that means a lot to us.

We are eternally grateful for their help and support. So, in our fifth birthday year, we want to show our support by fundraising £5,000 in our fifth birthday year for Upper Norwood Library Trust. 

Palace Acappella will be fundraising throughout 2024 through our performances and some extra activities. The money we raise will help the Library Hub deliver its vital programme of services for the local community.

Hear more about why this matters to us from choir leader Eleanor Rastall:

You can help by:

• Donating to this fundraising page
• Sharing our posts on Facebook, X and Instagram with your followers
• Fundraising – you could run a bake sale, an event or a sponsored challenge and donate to this page.
• Spreading the word in your community when you are out and about.

If you'd like to get involved with fundraising, please contact Palace Acappella choir: [email protected].

You can find out more about the Upper Norwood Library Trust here, and on the Upper Norwood Library Hub's website.