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ACTON COMMUNITY FORUM - what do they do?

Acton Community Forum (ACF) addresses the holistic issues of the deprived Acton Wards and estates of the London Borough of Ealing. ACF’s mission has been to empower local residents to solve their problems and improve the area’s quality of life. Our aims are to develop community capacity, rebuild social capital and bring the talents and diversity of the area together to participate in Acton’s regeneration.In 2011/12 our work included: Partnership ProjectsGenerations TogetherMigrant Impact ProgrammeWell LondonBe Creative Be WellPreventSupplementary Schools ConsortiumEstate Summer PlayschemesUK Online Capacity Builders ProgrammeArts & CultureActon CarnivalActon Arts ForumBlack History & CultureNetworks & Community SupportWomen’s NetworkSouth Acton NetworkCommunity CentresFundraising & DevelopmentRegeneration & Resident InvolvementFundraising & DevelopmentSince 2004, ACF’s dedicated support for grassroots community groups has supported 85 organisations and raised £5.9 million to date.Over the past year, the project worked with 28 groups providing a broad range of services. A conservative estimate of the total number of local people these groups serve would be in the range of 12,000. These organisations cover a broad spectrum of Acton’s cultural mix, including the Afghan, Armenian, Asian, African-Caribbean, Iranian, Somali and West African communities.Despite a precipitous drop in available funding, the project secured £570,000 through 28 grants, including from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Wates Foundation, Henry Smith Charity, BBC Children in Need, UK Online, LloydsTSB Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.We also participated on numerous partnership bids with Ealing Council, Southall Community Alliance and others

Dee Cook ● 5188d0 Comments ● 5188d

London's a picture of sustainability

Showcase local green projects in London photo competitionEaling residents are encouraged to submit photos of local projects in a competition to find London’s Picture of Sustainability.Individuals and communities across each of the London boroughs are challenged to capture images of inspiring green projects in their area.Online social platform Caydoo (pronounced Kee-Doo) designed London’s Picture of Sustainability competition to encourage people to consider the meaning of sustainable living.Submissions must be uploaded to the competition website with a short caption. A panel of experts will judge the entries on concept as well as skill. There will be two overall winners with prizes awarded to the entry with most public votes and the best shot as chosen by the judges.The judging panel includes Magic FM DJ Neil Fox, the Guardian’s Jo Confino, Sustainability.com’s John Elkington, Canopy & Stars’ Tom Dixon, Freegle co-founder Cat Fletcher and Head of Photography at London Metropolitan University Mick Williamson.Competition prizes include luxury UK glamping holidays, courtesy of Sawday’s Canopy & Stars, and Lush cosmetics hampers. The overall competition winner will receive a year of exclusive sustainable getaways, showcasing beautiful UK holiday destinations in spring, summer and autumn.Magic FM DJ Neil Fox, competition ambassador and self-confessed ‘green-leaner’, believes the photo challenge will encourage exploration of London’s many sustainable initiatives. He said:“Photographs capture the imagination and we hope the competition will do just that for London. It’s an exciting opportunity to showcase people’s different ideas of sustainability ahead of the Olympics.“You don’t need to be a photographer to have a camera and an opinion. The idea is to provoke and capture people’s thoughts whatever their age, ability or lifestyle choices. It’s time to drive sustainability into the mainstream.”The competition closes for entries on 22 July 2012. For full competition details visit www.apictureofsustainability.com

Clo Collot ● 5192d0 Comments ● 5192d

Acton Arms - Review of sister pub

Yesterday we spent most of the day at another pub that has just been taken over by the Antic group: The Catford Bridge Tavern.I'd never been to Catford before and i always imagined that it wasn't very pretty. I was right. The pub itself is located on a very busy road and looked a bit run down from the outside so i wasn't expecting much.It was quite empty inside but the staff greeted us with massive friendly smiles and a big hello, which was really nice.Decor wise it's kind of what you would expect, stripped floors, Farrow and Ball colours etc.In the dining room they had gone for the look of a 1950's school room. The chairs were mostly fashionably mismatched and most of them were clearly from schools or colleges or libraries as they had those sections on the back where you can put books and papers.It wasn't a slick makeover but I have to say though that it was very charming. There was also a bit of a jubilee theme going on with handmade papercut bunting here and there.The Menu was short, with a focus on roasts, (including a veggie version that we had ) they also had some nice sounding salads and another Veggie special.This seemed like a Sunday menu so I expect that the menu is different on other days. The wine menu was quite short, but that wasn't really a problem - we had a Rosé which was a good price and was nice enough.They have a bit more of a focus on beer and Ciders and had a separate menu for this. I'm not a beer drinker so I have no idea if it was a good list.The staff are very much what makes this place work. They were friendly and helpful, knew the menu and drinks well and they really pitched the service just right.We were with a friend who now lives and the area and who has also been to the Redback in the past. He reckons that the Catford pub was much worse that the Redback.It used to be a pretty terrifying place apparently. As if to demonstrate that a local problem drinker came in and started causing a real scene. It was really quite scary but the staff ( mostly very young ladies ) dealt with it really well and managed to usher him out after a while.i suspect that the staff at the Acton Arms will have similar problems to deal with.On to the food. As i mentioned we had the veggie roast which consisted of a mushroom tart and all the usual sunday roast trimmings. I must say it was great.All the dishes ordered by our table got a thumbs up and they were all presented nicely.All in all I was very impressed.Antic who own the pub have two other places really close to this. Our friends have been to them all and they rate all of them.Hopefully if the Acton Arms succeeds, Antic will expand to the wider Area.Given the similarities between the Catford Bridge tavern and Redback, i think that we are in safe hands. : )

Jamie James ● 5224d35 Comments ● 5194d