July 2011

An exciting new partnership with Future Unlimited is starting next month here at Baytree!

Future Un-Limited is offering young women aged 16-18 a unique opportunity to experience the world of business and gain a level 2 NVQ in business administration. In August 2011, 15 apprentices will become professional members of the team working for Future Un-Limited’s clients, supporting the administrative requirements of a range of businesses and undergoing one day of training per week at the Baytree Centre. We expect the apprenticeship to last for approximately 6 months. This is a really exciting venture for Baytree! For further details see flyer here or contact Future Unlimted Directly on: info@future-unlimited.co.uk or 0208 944 7448.

May 2011

A Taste of Baytree: Celebrating 20 Years of Baytree
     
On Thursday 19 May the Baytree Centre opened its doors to friends, family and other special guests to celebrate 20 years of our life-changing work. The evening kicked off with a ‘surprise’ performance from the Baytree choir while guests enjoyed a variety of savoury canapés from around the world.

Helping to serve the canapés were Baytree Volunteers, Baytree Ambassadors (made up of girls who attend after-school activities and pictured in green), adult students and Baytree staff who were all also on hand to tell guests more about the Centre and its work.

We were delighted that Lorraine Pascale (pictured left), from the BBC series ‘Baking Made Easy’, was also able to attend; later tweeting @BaytreeCentre with her thanks for the invitation and appreciation of the Centre’s hard-work.

Following a performance from Baytree’s streetdance group, The Funketts, and a song from our Into School girls, guests were invited to enjoy sweet canapés and drinks while the raffle was drawn.

The evening was a huge success with everyone from staff to volunteers to guests having a great time. We are very grateful to Gareth Edward-Jones and the women of Baytree for donating their time and expertise to make the wonderful canapés and to all our students and volunteers who helped make the evening a great success.

April 2011

Health & Beauty Workshops for Girls 11-19

This Easter girls aged 11-19 took part in four days of Health & Beauty Workshops in an effort to answer the questions: What is Healthy & Who Decides What is Beautiful? Workshops included when & how to use make up, cooking healthy food, a nutrition talk and dance/fitness demonstrations. There was also much discussion about the media and its influence on young people’s body image, which helped the girls create their own magazine’ workshop - an online beauty magazine/blog that the group used to portray positive images and ideas about health and beauty. At the end of the week, when asked what she had learnt one girl said: ‘that there is a lot of different kinds of beauty’ and another said that she would make the following changes to improve her health: ‘eat healthier and cut down on crisps and biscuits.’ The Baytree Centre runs after-school clubs during term time and workshops during the school holidays for girls aged 8-19. For more details contact the Youth Service on 0207 733 5283 or afterschoolclubs@baytreecentre.co.uk.

February 2011

The Adult Service literacy programme has been the subject of an independent report produced by Greg Brooks and Dr Maxine Burton. To download a copy of the report and to find out more about our literacy courses click here

A Taste Of Baytree: Open Day & Free Workshops
On 23 February Baytree opened it's doors to local girls and their parents who took part in taster workshops on cooking & cake decorating, fitness & dance, singing and knitting & sewing. In addition to Youth Service staff there were 'Baytree Ambassadors' (girls who already attend activities at the Centre) on hand all day to help new girls and their parents learn more about the Centre.

November 2010

Bronze for Baytree!

Throughout 2010 the Baytree Centre has been working towards a quality mark for its services and after months of hard work, we have been awarded a Bronze Level London Youth Quality Mark, a quality assurance scheme, a programme accredited by City and Guilds. This is the first level that can be achieved and is valid for 3 years.

Levi Roots Opens Baytree’s New Kitchen

On Saturday 27 November, the Baytree Centre opened our brand new kitchen in style with the help of Levi Roots, Brixton-based chef and creator of Reggae Reggae Sauce. After touring the Baytree Centre with Centre Director Mae Parreno and Baytree Youth Forum member Chika Ekenachi (pictured above with Levi Roots), Levi cut the ribbon and declared the Baytree kitchen officially open! The kitchen, renovated due to funding secured by the Baytree Youth Forum, was totally transformed and both Levi and Chika agreed that all that was missing was the smell of great cooking! Luckily the kitchen will be put straight to use with free cookery lessons for 11-19 year olds in December and our popular after school Cookery Club starting again in January 2011. For more information contact the Baytree Centre Youth Service on 020 733 5283 or afterschoolclubs@baytreecentre.co.uk.

Root for Baytree!

This year the Baytree Centre has been chosen as one of 35 charities nationwide to be eligible for Garfield Weston Match Funding Challenge through the Big Give website. This means that every pound donated from 10am on 6th, 7th or 8th December 2010 will be matched by the Garfield Weston Foundation. Click here to watch our fundraising video on YouTube. (The Baytree Centre is not responsible for the content of external websites). This is an amazing opportunity for every pound to become two and we need your help! For further information, click here.

June 2010

Baytree's Annual Volunteer Awards Evening

On Wednesday 23 June Baytree staff and volunteers joined the Centre’s Volunteer Team for the Annual Baytree Volunteer Awards Evening. All volunteers were thanked for their hard work over the past 12 months with special awards given to exceptional volunteers from each service and for outstanding achievement from the Management Team. Attendees were also lucky to enjoy a performance by Laura Victoria, a Baytree Volunteer and proficient singer/cellist. The ceremony itself was followed by drinks and canapés as attendees celebrated a wonderful year for the Baytree Volunteer Service.

April 2010

Baytree Bazaar
On Tuesday 27 April the Baytree Outreach Group of volunteers held a Bazaar to raise funds for the crèche’s annual trip to the seaside. Staff, volunteers and beneficiaries donated goods from clothes to books to cakes, and the Bazaar raised £100 to put towards the seaside trip.

 
 
March 2010

Baytree Celebrates International Women’s Day
This year to celebrate International Women’s Day the Baytree Centre held a number of events to create Peace flags for the ‘Join Me on the Bridge’ Event held on Monday 8 March 2010 at Millennium Bridge.

The Youth Service ran a ‘Knit for Peace’ afternoon during half-term with girls knitting and sewing a flag whilst the after-school Art Club painted their flag. On Friday 5 March the Volunteer and Adult Services held a celebration event at Baytree. Women provided traditional food – the canteen overflowed with various salads, cakes and other delicious snacks – and signed a banner with their messages of Peace.

On 8 March the adult students and volunteers took the Baytree flags to Millennium Bridge to join thousands of other women who were standing in solidarity with women all over the world and celebrating International Women’s day. For more information about International Women’s Day click here or Women for Women’s 'Join Me on the Bridge' event click here.

January 2010

Baytree’s Outreach Group in the Community
On Wednesday 27 January fifteen members of the Outreach Group (made up of Baytree volunteers) visited a local community centre. The group (pictured above) chatted with the elderly people that visit the centre, enjoyed tea and biscuits and played games – including bingo and hoy - with them. For further details of the Outreach Group please contact the Volunteer Service on 020 7733 5283 or volunteering@baytreecentre.co.uk.

December 2009

Baytree’s Street Dance girls perform at Lambeth Town Hall
On Sunday 20 December five girls from the junior Street Dance Club at Baytree (pictured below with Dance Coordinator Yolanda) performed a specially choreographed routine as part of the Lambeth Youth Support Service’s Christmas Talent Show at Lambeth Town Hall. The show, hosted by Kat from MTV Base, was attended by 100 young people from across Lambeth and included other dance performances and comedy routines. The girls’ perseverance was tested by some technical hitches at the start of their performance, but in spite of the problems they all remained focused and performed the routine brilliantly.

Youth Service - Girls of the Term
Each week during the Autumn term volunteers for each Youth activity named their Girl of the Week – based on hardwork, attendance and achievement. At the end of the term the girl who was named most frequently became Girl of the Term and was awarded a certificate. In addition – thanks to a generous donation from Communitas – we were able to give each girl a book token to celebrate their achievement. To see a selection of photos click here. (.pdf)

A Visit from the Science Museum...
On Wednesday 9 December the Science Museum Outreach Team visited Baytree and held a workshop and demonstration for maths and science club girls and their families. The ‘Get a Grip’ workshop examined force and balance, giving the group a chance to take part in a tug of war and build their own hovercraft. The ‘It Takes Guts’ show followed the journey of food through the human body and lived up to its description of ‘a gross-out, squirm-inducing demonstration’! To see photos from the event click here and to learn more about the Science Museum visit their website: www.sciencemuseum.org.uk.

November 2009

Children in Need Tea Party
In support of Children in Need this year The Baytree Centre held a Tea Party. Shireen Pompey, a Volunteer, came up with the idea and coordinated the event. The event wasn't just about the Tea Party however as the girls who come to the centre got involved - in Art Club they made badges & coloured in posters whilst in Cookery Club they made cakes for the Tea Party.
Lots of people came to the Tea Party and due to everyone's generous contribution we raised £101! Thank you to everyone who came and especially to Shireen, without whom the event would not have taken place. Children in Need's mission is to make a positive change to the lives of disadvantaged children and young people across the UK. For more details click here.

CSV Make A Difference Day Event
On 3rd & 4th November some Baytree Centre volunteers took part in an event to support the CSV Make a Difference fortnight. The Make a Difference Campaign this year focused on the power of small acts of kindness. One of our wonderful volunteers, Meredith Dubs, suggested putting together military care packages to be sent to our troops overseas. The girls who attend the Comprehension & Literacy after-school club on Wednesday designed cards and poems and a local school wrote letters which all went into the shoebox along with drawings and treats such as chocolate bars and crisps. It was a very special event which will make a real difference to our troops – so thank you to all the volunteers and young people who helped!

Baytree Volunteer Wins V50 Award
The Baytree Volunteer Service would like to say a massive CONGRATULATIONS to our wonderful volunteer Desire Cyprien who was featured in national newspapers The Guardian and The Times this week! Desire has been recognised for all her hard work and achieved the V50 Award, a national award that is given to volunteers who complete 50 hours of volunteering in their community. Desire is a great volunteer who always give 100% to whatever project she is working on. We are so proud of her! To see the advert click here.

If you are interested in the V50 Award please contact Rebecca Heyes, Youth Volunteer Coordinator rheyes@baytreecentre.co.uk.

August 2009

Baytree on the Web
The Baytree Centre is now on twitter! Follow us at: http://twitter.com/BaytreeCentre. You can also join us on Facebook - search for The Baytree Centre and add us as a friend, or follow our Cookery Club via 'Cooking at the Baytree' here (The Baytree Centre is not responsible for the content of external sites.)

Summer Programmes 2009
The Baytree Centre’s summer programmes were a great success in 2009 with girls aged 8-13 learning singing and performance techniques during a week of workshops (click here for further details) and girls aged 14-18 undertaking a variety of activities (including dressmaking, journalism, law and photography) throughout Summer University (click here for further details).

July 2009

Baytree Volunteer Blogs Her Experiences
Baytree volunteer Sophie has been blogging her experience at cookery club. To follow Sophie's blog and read all about 'Cooking at the Baytree' click here.

March 2009

The Baytree Centre have recently achieved the Investing in Volunteers Quality Standard, recognising the excellent work they do with volunteers.

Investing in Volunteers is the UK quality standard for all organisations involving volunteers. Investing in Volunteers aims to improve the quality of the volunteering experience for all volunteers and for organisations to acknowledge the enormous contribution made by volunteers. Investing in Volunteers is managed by the UK Volunteering Forum and delivered by Volunteering England, Volunteer Development Scotland, Volunteer Development Agency in Northern Ireland and Wales Council for Voluntary Action.

Investing in Volunteers is unique in that it is the only standard that focuses on volunteers. It is based on four areas of volunteer management; planning for volunteer involvement, recruiting volunteers, selecting and matching volunteers and supporting and retaining volunteers. Further information about the Standard can be found on www.investinginvolunteers.org.uk. The Standard will enhance volunteer management and is rigorous but designed to be simple to implement and not to generate large amounts of paperwork. It is the only quality standard that has independent external validation with a UK Quality Assurance Panel that makes recommendations to the UK Volunteering Forum, the awarding body.

February 2009
Paul Hamlyn Foundation agrees to funding a further 2 years for the PEACH project helping 200 young girls to improve their academic standards.
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January 2009
The Baytree Centre receives funding to expand its opportunities for volunteering to many more young people in Lambeth thanks to the match support from V and Thames Foundation.
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December 2008
The Baytree Centre successfully helps women to break out from the illiteracy with a new method!
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October 2008
The Baytree Centre achieves Investing in Volunteer Quality mark.
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