Service Area: Things To Do

A message from Jo Ash, SVS CEO We hope you all unfurled your flags and billowed your bunting, enjoyed the VE Day bank holiday and sang ‘We’ll Meet Again’ with vim and vigour last weekend.   I wish it could have been joined by ‘Pack up your Troubles’  but fear we may though be feeling slightly more confused about when and how either might happen following the PM’s announcements on Sunday.  This has shifted the message slightly, relaxed the rules a bit about what we can all do and when things will be opening up, so we will all need to...

A message from Jo Ash, SVS CEO Dear Colleagues, Friday’s Bank Holiday commemorates VE Day – 75 years since the ending of WW2 hostilities in Europe – and our current challenges in the battle against Covid 19 perhaps give us a brief insight into the relief and joy that must have been felt as the immediate anxiety and fear for loved ones and self lifted for the generations that faced those dreadful events. The war though was not entirely over and, before that conflict’s peace could truly be celebrated on VJ Day on 15th August 1945, there were further trials...

Want to be able to Zoom or whatsapp chat? Send photos to friends? Stay connected using your smart phone, laptop or other tech? Our local volunteers can help you if you want to get more connected online, or help using your smart phone or other tech.

England's Chief Medical Officer said during a COVID-19 briefing that "exercise is one of the best things you can possibly do." Energise Me is helping people stay physically active during lockdown. Its website and social media channels are full of ideas and resources for being active at home. Discover resources for children, older adults and people living with long-term health conditions. You can also read stories from local people about how they're staying active during lockdown. https://www.energiseme.org/getting-active/getting-active-at-home/ Energise Me is also supporting those who work in the physical activity and sports sector to access emergency funding and support. If you...

Interest in gardening has taken off during the Covid-19 crisis with big rises in demand for plants, seeds and know-how.  To help people get the most out of their gardens, including the considerable mental and physical health benefits, Reading-based therapeutic gardening charity Thrive has launched a Gardening Club. It’s a free weekly email with:   How-to guides for gardening jobs Activities for children Tips to help you garden if you have a disability or long-term health condition Ways to benefit from nature if you don’t have a garden To receive Gardening Club emails, click here Also, to stave off lockdown...

As part of Children in Need's coverage of Mental Health Awareness Week, they caught up with a team of Crisis Volunteers from 24/7 text service Shout. Your donations help to fund the project,  providing essential support and advice to children and young people in crisis across the UK.   To read the article click the webpage

The coronavirus pandemic is a difficult and uncertain time for everyone. We can no longer take for granted some of the things we used to do to look after our physical and mental wellbeing, like meeting a group of friends or going to the cinema to shake off the blues. Along with other elements of our routines, we might have had to shake up, adjust or rethink some of our self-care techniques and rituals as we adjust to self-isolation and social distancing. One of the things Young Minds suggest as a helpful tool for difficult times is a ‘self-soothe box,’...

Why not try a free course, available through the National Careers Service. There are introduction level courses aimed at getting you confident online, through to more advanced courses teaching digital skills for use in the workplace. These are all short courses that can be completed at home, in your own time, at your own pace.

Free workshops for 18-25 year olds Weekly | Mon 7pm-8.30pm ArtfulScribe and Mayflower Theatre are inviting young people aged 18-25 to get involved with free online creative sessions that will help develop skills, confidence, and experience of a writer’s life. Sessions are led by writer/performer Antosh Wojcik, a poet and playwright whose work has toured nationally and has been featured on Sky Arts. You will work across genres and aim towards publishing in print, online and through performance. Mayflower Creative Writers project is delivered in partnership with ArtfulScribe and kindly supported by Arts Council England.

Mayflower Engage Online provides opportunities to engage with the theatre in a new way. Whilst we can’t invite you into the theatre at the moment, it doesn’t mean we don’t have something you can participate in. We have delightful dance workouts, sensational singing sessions, terrific tongue twisters, wonderful worksheets, creative craft activities and much more. If you are home schooling, looking to keep you brain active, or just want to have fun and try something new, then we are sure we have something for you.