The Lady Margaret Hall Settlement

LMHS is celebrating a trio of funding awards for projects with different local partners in Lambeth. The grants were all awarded via the Capital Community Foundation from the Pedlar’s Acre and Covent Garden Market Authority. CCF’s programme manager Cathy Togher came to meet some of the LMHS team and partners before awarding the grants and was obviously impressed with what she found. The grants were as follows: a Pedlar’s Acre Small Grant to fund a City & Guilds accredited training course in business management for students at All Sewn Up. The course is a vital add-on to help strengthen business skills in students to help them set up their own businesses. This grant comes just in time for the students to enjoy the benefits of the new wood floor and kitchenette recently fitted with the help of an Awards 4 All grant in time for the 2011-2012 academic year.

Pedlar’s Acre also gave a strategic grant to a joint project between LMHS and the newly-formed Portuguese Community Centre. The Centre does not have a building but aims to provide services to the often neglected Portuguese-speaking community in Lambeth. Luis Ventura, a community worker who has partnered with LMHS for many years, will be organising a series of ESOL Food & Hygiene safety courses to enable these residents to improve employability and language skills for the food industry. Pedlar’s Acre recognised the direct effect such courses will have on improving the Portuguese speaking community’s employment opportunities in an arena where they are often well qualified but lack necessary qualifications.

And thirdly, LMHS has worked with a team at Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre to gain a grant to run a series of social events for older residents in the catchment area. The grant is from the Covent Garden Market Authority Fund as they undergo massive transformations in the area. Local author Gabriel Badamosi and artist and collaborator Erik Rehl will be working with Bob Henderson of the VGCC Bingo Club to bring the project to life. The events will kick start the centre’s “Memory Project”, a multimedia venture to gather, record and share memories of the area over the past decades.