Our community allotment turned red, white and blue this week in honour of the Queen’s Jubilee.

Volunteers came together to make their own jubilee-themed planters, led by local floral designer Emma from Wild Alice, and all under the watchful eye of our own (handcrafted) Queen!

Not even the rain dampened spirits, as the keen gardeners ‘kept calm and carried on’ with their colourful creations.

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The Jubilee theme continues throughout the allotment with bunting, decorated planters, and a huge pop-pom Union Jack and crown created by volunteers and supporters of Walton Charity.

The community allotment is a place for people of all walks of life to come together, socialise and learn new skills. It has gone from strength to strength in recent years and was a lifeline for many of the volunteers during the pandemic. They are now enjoying being back together face-to-face and are excited by the prospect of taking part in the world-famous Hampton Court Flower Show later this summer, where they will exhibit a mini replica of the allotment.

“The passion feeds me completely and powers me to have the energy to do it”

Q. Why did you decide to take on the role of Chair of Trustees?
My first meeting as a volunteer trustee was in May last year and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The charity is 815 years old and what a privilege it is to be part of this unique charity. I had always planned to explore the idea of being a Chair nearer retirement age, but this opportunity came up and I felt that I could add so much more right now.

Q. What experience do you bring to Walton Charity?
During my 26 years of working as a nurse with children and adults with learning disabilities and mental health issues, I have built a network of links within the voluntary, health and social care sectors. Becoming Chair of a local charity is an opportunity to make these connections more meaningful.

Walton Charity is committed to tackling poverty and inequality and, within my work, I see the realities of these every day. I just felt there was so much more I could do. My focus tends to be on interactions with people when they are unwell but what really interests me is how do you help people to stay healthy and remain independent.

Each trustee is chosen for their skill sets – mine being health – the other trustees bring their own unique skills.

Q. How do you find the time with such a busy day job?
Sometimes opportunities come up when it is not the ideal time. There is an argument to say that I am probably in the busiest day job that I’ve ever had, but I think you find the time for things that you feel really passionate about.

Q. What do you think you’ll do differently now you are Chair?
I think the main difference is going to be that I will immerse myself much more regularly in the work of the charity. Already I am a member of the Grants Committee, and I will obviously join all the committees, to have an oversight.

I will also be supporting Jackie Lodge, the charity’s Chief Executive, leading the charity and helping to set the direction for the next three years.

I wanted something that was good for the soul but would stretch me and make me build relationships and networks with totally different people. There are also lots of different elements to the charity - from property to finance and grant giving. Some of it is familiar but some of it is like a totally different language to me!

Q. Why do you feel mental health is such an important issue to focus on?
My view is that everybody has mental health challenges but for some they become overwhelming at times. I have both personal experience and professional experience of working with children and young people particularly around emotional wellness and resilience.

Sometimes the most resilient, strong, healthy people can find themselves in difficult circumstances that are beyond their control and can tip them over the edge.

As a community we have got the opportunity to come together, just to make that journey a little easier for people.

Any final thoughts?
I recognise that I am just one person but when I connect to twenty or thirty other people working at Walton Charity, suddenly we become really powerful. A great example of this is the foodbank that I visited early on in my trusteeship. Seeing people who work there and those that come in, the chat and the laughter and the connection people get is often as important as the bag of food that they take home. It is just so powerful and I think that, without being connected with the charity, I would never have seen that.

In April, we hosted a group of young people with learning disabilities for a week at our sheltered housing schemes in Walton on Thames. The group, who are working towards their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award, chose to give their time to help residents of Fenner House and Mayfield with much-needed tasks like painting fences and tidying cupboards.

Supported by Duke of Edinburgh volunteer, Jean Casha, the group also helped to prepare Easter gifts for our residents, carefully decorating 100 bags and filling each one with a variety of activities and Easter eggs which were kindly donated by Morrisons in Weybridge.

Our residents really enjoyed having the young people for the week and were delighted that they joined in with their fundraiser for people in Ukraine.

The group even found time to help our Community Allotment volunteers with preparations for the Queen’s Jubilee by making woollen pompoms which will be used to create a celebratory Union Jack and Queen’s crown.

It was a great week for everyone involved.

Cook4Care’s team of volunteer cooks arrive at the kitchens of Esher Rugby Club early each morning to prepare and cook healthy and nutritious meals for young carers across Elmbridge. Their army of volunteer drivers deliver home-cooked meals, and some welcome company, to homes where children and young adults are the registered carers.

Last year, we awarded a Community Grant of £4,000 to Cook4Care, enabling them to reach more young carers and their families here in Elmbridge. Since expanding their service, Cook4Care have cooked a staggering 3,690 meals for Elmbridge families, saving young carers 4,144 hours in shopping and cooking time.

The result - young carers have more time for their studies and to spend with friends and family, reducing feelings of loneliness and isolation.

One in four adults feel lonely some or all of the time. There’s no single cause and there’s no one solution but, the longer we feel lonely, the more we are at risk of physical and mental health problems. Being a carer is one of the factors that can increase loneliness and affect mental health.

Addressing loneliness and isolation is one of Walton Charity’s five priorities and we fund projects that support people’s mental health, encourage social interaction and help people feel more connected to their community.

As a result of Cook4Care’s work, Action for Young Carers Surrey has reported an increase in the emotional and physical resilience of the young carers who are benefitting from trying new foods and receiving respite from their caring responsibilities.

As one volunteer said, “I feel a sense of pride that I am volunteering for such a worthy cause. There is such a direct local benefit, and we get lovely messages from the families.”

A Community Grant of £30,000, over a three-year period, will help to secure the community bus service, Chatterbus, which provides free travel to people on low incomes in the Cobham area.

Chatterbus, a not-for-profit community initiative, is managed by local volunteers and operated by East Surrey Rural Transport Partnership. It was started seven years ago to address the lack of affordable transport in Cobham and the surrounding area and has been a firm local favourite ever since. It has been so popular that a second bus was added to the route in January of this year.

As well as offering free travel to those facing financial hardship, the service helps children get to school and adults get to work, cutting down the number of cars on our local roads. It also enables people to access the jobcentre, leisure centre and larger, more reasonably priced supermarkets outside the area. For many older people, the bus is a social highlight, reducing feelings of loneliness and isolation.

A recently retired driver said, “I had the pleasure of meeting so many characters on the bus. Some of the kindest, most caring people, as well as some of the funniest and most clever people I have ever met. All have entertained me throughout my countless journeys, but I have also met some of the saddest, sometimes poorest and loneliest of people I have ever known which further emphasised to me that the Chatterbus really is all about the people.”

A Community Grant of £3,000 will help the Lucy Rayner Foundation to run ‘Mental Health and Me’ workshops for local students at Three Rivers Academy in Walton on Thames.

The Lucy Rayner Foundation aims to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of depression and other mental health issues in young people and change the way mental health is perceived by society.

The interactive workshops, delivered by experienced facilitators, will give students in Years 9 and 10 the tools they need to manage their own mental wellbeing and better understand what is needed to take care of themselves.

Becky Rayner, of The Lucy Rayner Foundation, said “The funding we have received allows us to work with schools such as Three Rivers Academy who have stated that these workshops would be beneficial for their students to help with engagement, self-esteem, confidence, anxiety, and resilience. These are all topics that need to be addressed.”

Promoting personal health and wellbeing is one of Walton Charity’s five funding priorities. The pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues and there is a growing need for mental health support particularly for children and young people. Research from the Centre for Mental Health shows that 1.5 million children and young people under 18 in England will need new or additional mental health support; and data from NHS Digital shows an increase in diagnosable mental health disorders among young people from one in nine in 2017, to one in six in 2020.  

A Walton Charity Community Grant of £10,000 will fund ‘Dad Matters’ - a one-year pilot project run by Home-Start Elmbridge supporting local dads at one of the most vulnerable times in their lives.

Fathers who are struggling, or whose partner is struggling, are very unlikely to seek help. As a result, the mental health of both parents suffers, relationships break down and babies do not form positive attachments with their fathers which can have a life-long impact on a child's emotional wellbeing. Home-Start Elmbridge want to help men across the borough to access support when they need it.

Our funding will benefit approximately 60 Elmbridge fathers with children aged from birth to two years, helping them to manage stress, anxiety and other mental health issues. The project will also bring together new dads who are going through similar challenges.

Home-Start aims to ensure that all expectant fathers will receive information about the 1:1 support available prior to their baby being born and will work with antenatal teams at local hospitals to offer specific 'dad sessions' as part of antenatal courses.

Carol Hodges, Scheme Director, said “This much needed pilot project will run for one-year from our schemes in Elmbridge, Woking, Runnymede and Epsom, Ewell and Bansted, in partnership with maternity services at Ashford & St. Peter’s and Epsom & St. Hellier Hospitals.

Home-Start in Greater Manchester has successfully run this project for several years and if our pilot is successful here, we will increase the coverage across all 8 Surrey Home-Start schemes.”

Walton Charity has a long history of providing allotments, dating back to the 1800s. These small plots of land have served people in our local area through two World Wars and many historical and cultural changes. A spike in interest during Covid-19 meant, once-again, demand for allotment plots rocketed.

With more people working from home and time on the allotment recognised as an ‘approved’ form of exercise, all four of our sites were at full capacity.

So, with a thriving community of plot-holders that represents a cross-section of our community, we have decided to hand over the reins to the allotment tenants, giving them a greater involvement in the decision making, and enabling them to lead on site-specific developments.

In January 2022, Walton Allotment Association officially took over the management of Walton Charity’s four allotments sites. Each site has its own management team with tenants taking on roles including Chair, finance and administration. Even in this short time, there has been an increase in the community feel of each site with more social events and site improvements.

Walton Charity will continue to support and work with Walton Allotment Association as demand for allotment plots evolves. Who knows what the next stage in the history of our allotments will be?

If you are interested in putting your name on the waitlist for a plot or would like to support the new Walton Allotment Association, please email AllotWalton@gmail.com

In celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June, we have joined in the “Plant a Tree for Jubilee” campaign. Working with the Volunteer Elmbridge Tree Wardens, we have planted six fruit trees, creating a mini community orchard at our Mayfield sheltered housing, and have pinned our trees on the Queen’s Green Canopy Map.

The Queens Green Canopy is a tree planting initiative that forms part of the Jubilee celebrations. It honours the Queen’s leadership and encourages people across the United Kingdom to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”, creating a legacy to benefit future generations.

Down at our Community Allotment, preparations for the celebrations are also taking shape. Our volunteers and residents from our sheltered housing schemes are creating a huge Union Jack and crown from handmade wool pompoms. They’re also busy painting planters in Jubilee colours and we fully expect the Queen (in scarecrow form) to be in attendance for the celebrations!

If you have ideas to involve our sheltered residents or community allotment volunteers in activities to mark the Jubilee, please get in touch. Email us at greenspaces@waltoncharity.org.uk

Every year, Home-Start Elmbridge supports around 140 local families. Their experienced team, which includes 50 volunteers, provide emotional and practical support to families with young children who are experiencing isolation, post-natal depression and physical or mental health issues.

We are delighted to continue supporting their vital work through a three-year community grant of £60,000. This core funding grant will help cover office, administration and support staff costs, expenditure which many other grant-makers won’t fund.

Carol Hodges, Scheme Director, said “This funding is a substantial amount providing longevity to our core services. It provides our charity with the security to maintain and build on services as required. Families are not only having to cope with coming out of COVID restrictions but rising living costs. The number of families struggling emotionally has increased so this support is invaluable”.

Home-Start’s holistic approach provides families with crisis support, ongoing counselling and help with caring for family members facing illness. Their parenthood support groups also provide invaluable peer support to local families.

“Both of my Home-Start volunteers were open, warm and more than happy to help in any way I needed. They were never pushy, always very positive and seemed to adore my kids. Home-Start Elmbridge was there for me when I was struggling really badly”.

We are delighted to be able to again support the delivery of the four week Talking Teens programme to Elmbridge parents and carers.

Talking Teens is run by The Wellbeing Supervisor, Michelle Tucker, for parents and carers of pre-teens and through the teenage years, helping them cope with challenging behaviour and find ways to create a calmer, happier family life.

Michelle provides help in a non-judgemental and supportive way, aiding families to gain confidence, tackle some of the challenges and understand their teenagers better.

Whilst some parents and carers attending are referred by professionals, Elmbridge residents are welcome to self-refer and should contact Michelle Tucker directly: michelle@thewellbeingsupervisor.com

“This has been a great course. I don’t feel alone and it was good to share experiences. I now try to praise my teen and see the positives more. There has been at least one brilliant thing every week that I have used and it has had a real impact.

I think the structure and timing works really well and being accessible by Teams makes it easier to attend and it kept me engaged through the four weeks. Every parent or carer should attend!”

Jean Simango became Head of Advice Services at Citizens Advice Elmbridge West last month. Here she tells us more about her role, how they are bracing for the effects of the energy crisis, and why she would like to see more affordable housing locally.

You have recently taken over as Head of Advice Services, what were you doing before you started the role?

I was a volunteer with Citizens Advice but have worked as a nurse and paralegal.

What is your favourite part of the job so far?

Being part of a group of people who are geared to help. It is rewarding to know we are making a difference in somebody’s life when they feel they have nowhere to turn.

Citizens Advice play a vital role locally, how challenging was it to continue providing your service during the pandemic?

When the pandemic hit, I was working as a volunteer on the Advice Line. We were all working from home which meant we could keep the lines open but it was a real challenge for the clients who weren’t able to contact us over the phone or by email. They were left with no way of getting in touch.

What are the main enquiries you are receiving at the moment?

The most common enquiries we receive are about benefits, debt, housing, employment and Universal Credit.

Has Covid-19 changed the kind of enquiries you receive?

Not really. I feel the pandemic has only exacerbated the issues and widened the inequality gap. With the end of the energy price cap and high inflation we are seeing at the moment, we can only see this gap widening further.

The people we are meeting who have been impacted by Covid-19 have often experienced loss of employment or an upheaval to their finances. We have also seen an increase in relationship breakdowns. This has impacted people from a financial, family and mental health perspective.

People are often surprised to learn that so many people in Elmbridge (particularly children) are living in poverty. Why do you think people don’t know it is a problem?

Elmbridge is often seen as a wealthy borough and lots of people make the assumption that all residents are well off. This makes it hard to address the pockets of poverty that do exist. And often people don’t want to come forward and talk about their situation.

There has been a sharp increase in living costs (food, fuel etc) recently. Are you seeing an effect on people locally?

Yes and no. Covid is still masking what will be the real issues when they do eventually surface. As I mentioned, with the energy cap coming to an end we foresee a huge increase in demand for our services. We are hoping to find ways to address these issues before they become emergencies.

Availability of affordable housing in Elmbridge is an ongoing problem, with house prices and average rents around double that of the national average. What challenges does this present for people locally?

The availability of social housing is a real problem. And people worry about not being able to stay in the borough if there is no suitable housing. When rents keep increasing, there are less affordable rental properties available, which pushes people out of Elmbridge. Since April 2021, we have received 455 housing-related enquiries, a 25% increase on the previous year. Most of these are about renting or rented properties.

What is the biggest change you would like to see locally?

More affordable housing for a start. I would also like to see more support for local charities and for our local shops.

Citizens Advice Elmbridge West is a local charity which provides free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everyone who lives, works or studies in the communities of Walton, Weybridge and Hersham. Find out more about the services they provide and how they can help.

Citizens Advice Elmbridge West is one of 14 local organisations to hold a Walton Charity delegated fund, supporting people and families in Elmbridge on low incomes, particularly during times of crisis or financial hardship.