February 2023
Dear neighbours,
Apologies in advance for the length of this update! Please make time to read it.
Project update: Newington Green Playground
The Newington Green playground extension is finally open today! A huge thank you to all that helped with this project over the past 18 months. From organising or completing the resident questionnaires, presenting our findings to the Council, recommending play equipment providers and improving the designs - this has been a real community effort.
Next, we will be pushing the council to get all the grass around the Green into better shape and to fix the water fountain.
Project update: Food Justice
A very belated thank you to everyone who made our Xmas festivities at the Newington Green Food Hub possible. More than 70 people came, ate together and received presents.
Delicious food was prepared by locals Gwada Kitchen and Maama Esi with desserts provided by Gallo Nero and Belle Epoque. (Please follow them and remember if you are ever looking for caterers.)
A special thank you to Adil and the team at Acoustic who - despite moving out of Newington Green - donated and cooked two huge turkeys for us.
The food project is continuing and growing every Tuesday between 12-3pm @ St Jude and St Pauls' Church.
123 local households are members as of this week. If you are able to please donate to the project so we can keep it going.
Syria-Turkey Fundraisers
Newington Green has long been an area with a large Turkish and Kurdish community. Many NGAG members have friends and family who have been affected by the recent earthquake.
If you know someone who would benefit from some counselling please let us know so we can refer them to local charity IMECE. Please reply to this email with 'counselling' in the subject line.
The Mildmay Club is hosting a fundraiser tomorrow evening (18th February) with all proceeds going to the Disasters Emergency Committee.
Day-Mer Community Centre on Howard Road and Finsbury Park Mosque are also accepting donations.
Supporting Ukrainian Refugees
There has been a lot of local support for Ukrainian refugees over the past year- Islington alone has had over 160 hosts.
Both Islington and Hackney council are still searching for more hosts.
If you have a spare room for at least six months and would consider hosting a refugee please reply to this email. You will receive £350/month from the government as a thank you payment for hosting.
We can talk you through the details and put you in touch with some local hosts so you can find out what’s involved: if you’re interested, please email info@newingtongreen.org with ‘host’ in the subject line.
Project update: events
Our events exec is on sabbatical this year, and with all our other projects taking up our boards voluntary time, Jazz On The Green is at risk of being canceled for 2023.
So we NEED YOU!
Do you have experience organising events?
We are looking for someone who will be committed to heading up the coordination of JAZZ ON THE GREEN 2023.
Tasks will include:
Using Islington Council event app application form
Liaising with Islington Council events officers
Communication with stall holders and bands to gather all relative documents required
To be there on the day to help coordinate a team for the smooth and successful running of the event.
You will be supported by us at NGAG and Islington Council. It’s a super fulfilling role and you will be a huge part of one of the best days of the year for Newington Green!
If you are interested and to find out more, please email info@newingtongreen.org with ‘jazz’ in the subject.
Finally, a warm welcome to two new business in the area: fishmongers Oeno Maris who some of you will remember from their stall at last year’s Jazz on the Green and Italian restaurant La Padelle. We hope everyone will support them both.
In solidarity,
Team NGAG