Our next season of fascinating talks by talented locals kicks off on 3 October. Come and join the conversation first Mondays from October to December, with a free drink and a local meal deal at Caravaggio thrown in!
First Mondays from October-December.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

3rd October 7pm: Dr Francisco Diego, astrophysicist and environmentalist at UCL, guides us through the amazing images from the new James Webb Space telescope and how these reflect on our Paradise Planet Earth. @ The Crypt, St. Giles’ Church, Camberwell Church Street, SE5 8RB.

7th November 7pm: Jessica Moxham, writer and mother, talks about the joys and challenges of bringing up a disabled son and her book ‘The Cracks that let the light in’. @ At the Grove Room, Grove House Tavern, 26 Camberwell Grove, SE5 8RE. Step-free access.

5th December 7pm: Kit Green: writer, performer, music hall legend and Camberwell’s own Organoke rapping pensioner AKA Ida Barr, shares tales of their life and work. @ The Crypt, St. Giles’ Church, Camberwell Church Street, SE5 8RB*.

Tickets £10 (£7 conc.) including a free drink.
Carravagio is offering a half-price pre- or post-talk set menu meal for ticket holders.
You can also buy tickets from the SE5 Forum stall, Camberwell Green Market, Saturdays 10am-2pm.

*Please note that The Crypt does not have step-free access. 

BOOK TICKETS HERE

TfL Bus Route Reductions: consultation ends on 7 August. Find out more about SE5 Forum’s campaign and read our consultation response.

The TfL Central London Bus Consultation closes on 7 August; this will remove routes 12 and 45 that go through Camberwell. 

SE5 Forum objects in the strongest terms to TfL’s proposals to reduce and re-route bus services from Camberwell. They fail to recognise the significant socio-economic and equalities issues affecting Camberwell and its residents.

SE5 Forum is using social media to campaign to fight these cuts due to their negative impact on Camberwell – please share our tweets and posts. We are calling on the Mayor of London to withdraw these flawed proposals and reverse other recent cuts.

We will also be submitting our response to the consultation and sharing our objections. If you care about the loss of bus services, have your say here: haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/busreview.

Here is a summary of our consultation response: 
Thank you to consultant Jane Bevis, for volunteering to put together a full response to these cuts and show their negative effect on public transport in Camberwell. You can read the full document here. 

• The proposals to withdraw completely two bus services connecting Camberwell with central London to the north, Lambeth to the west and reducing service along the corridor towards Lewisham in the east. These are key locations supporting Camberwell’s economy and opening up employment and education opportunities across London for residents.

• Overall TfL’s proposes to withdraw 16 routes across London. It is completely disproportionate to target 2 of these on Camberwell – a single community reliant on its bus connections.

• High levels of multiple deprivation, unemployment, low pay, child poverty, physical and mental health problems and an ageing population speak to the need for enhanced, not deteriorating, public transport services in Camberwell.

• Access to car transport is limited among residents and TfL targets for Southwark look to reduce car ownership further.

• Impacts resulting from the withdrawal of services and re-routing of others include increased and less predictable door to door journey times, loss of Hopper fares due to extended journey times, and fears over personal safety at interchange points affecting women, older and young people, disabled people and LGBTQ people. Camberwell has a majority BAME population, many of whom experience multiple deprivation factors.

• Collectively these factors show TfL is failing in its Public Sector Equality Duty in the way it has assessed its proposals and their impacts on Camberwell residents.

• Visitors to Camberwell and its businesses and services, notably including two major London hospitals, King’s College Hospital and South London & Maudsley Hospital, will also face reduced services and access.

• Significant levels of housebuilding in Camberwell means the population is growing and bus passenger figures can be expected to rise by 15-30 percent by 2030.

• There has been a century of disinvestment in Camberwell’s transport infrastructure since the railway station closed in 1916. Repeated failures over 80 years to invest in Tube, rail and tram services connecting Camberwell with central London leaves Camberwell uniquely reliant on bus services. Over recent years these too have been reduced with the loss of 5 cross-river bus services and the reduction in frequency on remaining routes.

NEW free Feel Good Festival brings health, art, music and food experts to Camberwell Green this summer 

• Free workshops covering all areas of physical & mental wellbeing for children and adults 
• Every Saturday from 25^th June to 30th July at SE5 Forum’s stall at Camberwell Green market, from 10am to 1pm 

SE5 Forum’s Feel Good Festival brings together 35 health professionals to run free health and wellbeing sessions for the community on Camberwell Green over 6 weeks this summer. 

The sessions include exercise, yoga, tai chi, skating and cycling classes, art, music, creative writing, nutrition and food pantries. Partnership Southwark’s health and wellbeing tent will also be there to provide mini health checks alongside Covid-19 vaccination for all the family. The aim is to help local residents improve their physical and mental health and to signpost people to services. 

The programme is the brainchild of local parent Shazna Choudhry. She was moved by the impact of COVID on her community. Shazna says: “When lockdown hit, I saw the loneliness of my elderly neighbours, the isolation of  our children, the difficulty of accessing health care. Now post-COVID, it is wonderful to see the community coming together in our Feel Good Festival to improve everyone’s wellbeing.”

Shazna joined the board of community organisation SE5 Forum, who backed the Feel Good Festival as did Partnership Southwark, MIND and the Bethlem Gallery at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Shazna’s own employer Eversholt Rail, generously provided funding, while local health practitioners are providing their services for free. Local dad Pete Lewis, who runs creative design agency Curious Ways, has designed all the marketing for the event free of charge.

Shazna says: “It is so special to have all these experts provide their skills and services for free to the community for our Feel Good Festival.”

For further information, please email: admin@se5 Forum.org.uk. 

Feel Good Festival programme:

***LAST-MINUTE PROGRAMME CHANGES:

Week 2: – Izzy Parker workshop replaced with Weaving a Community Tapestry with Camberwell Arts’ Debbie Allen.
– Added: Clay candleholder making at 12-1pm.

Week 1 – Saturday 25th June: BODY with face and henna painting, mini health checks and Covid-19 vaccination at the health and wellbeing tent from Partnership Southwark, Osteopathy from Osteopathy on the Green, Pulse diagnosis, Women’s cycling for beginners with Joyriders, Salsation with Rebeca Italiani, a guided tree walk with The Camberwell Society and Tai chi with Wu Style Brixton.

Week 2 – Saturday 2nd July: ART with creative workshops by Izzy Parker and Bethlem Gallery, Restore Your Calm with Arts by Kola, Wor(l)d building writing with Mary Paterson, #joinmycanvas with Ange Mukeza, Yoga with Oshala Livity.

Week 3 – Saturday 9th JULY: MIND with the MIND charity, My Emotions activity book workshop with Laura H Brown, Mindfulness through photography and play with South London & Maudsley CAMHS, Creative Writing with Camberwell Scribes, Music performance with Lyndhurst Primary School Choirs, and Healthcheck and fitness advice with Pure Gym.

Week 4 – Saturday 16th July: MUSIC with drop-in sessions for parents with child psychologist Dr Jen Wills Lamacq, Margaret’s Music – Kids’ singing workshop with South London Songsters, EasyGym fitness class and free gym passes, Salsation with Rebeca Italiani, Skating for beginners with Landshark. 

Week 5 – Saturday 23rd July: FOOD with Nutrition & Caribbean fermentation workshop with Jasmine Carbon, Pop up Pantry and Food Workshop with Healthy Living Platform, West African Feast with Spring Community Hub, Fitness with BizzyIzzy, Get Fit & Do Good with GoodGym Southwark, Nikcarl Mckenzie’s comic drawing workshop.

Week 6 – Saturday 30th July: EXERCISE withYoga with Mistercollieman, Self-defence with Vegan Special Forces, Whole Body Workout with Alex Naylor, Salsation with Rebeca Italiani, Nikcarl Mckenzie’s kids’ skate workshop, Mini health checks and Covid-19 vaccination at the Partnership Southwark health and wellbeing tent. 

Come join the Camberwell conversation at the next series of talks hosted by SE5 Forum for Camberwell at St Giles’ Church. From the innovative youth theatre vision of Suzann McLean, artistic director of Theatre Peckham, to the stories behind the delicious Kurdish cuisine served up by Nandine’s Pary Baban and Antiques Roadshow’s resident art expert Rupert Maas talks art and money.

Don’t miss these fascinating, personal stories from our inspiring locals.
Book tickets here on Eventbrite: £10 or £7 concession. Your ticket also includes a free drink and a half-price deal on the night for a pre- or post-talk set meal at local restaurant Caravaggio.

BOOK TICKETS HERE
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/camberwell-talks-summer-2022

BOOK TICKETS HERE:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/camberwell-talks-summer-2022

SE5 Forum to host Local Elections Hustings for Camberwell
Wednesday 20 April, 7pm-8.30pm
United Reformed Church, Love Walk SE5 8AE

Hear from and quiz local candidates for Southwark and Lambeth Councils 
Register on the SE5 Forum Eventbrite page to attend. 
For this Hustings, we are focusing on Southwark and Lambeth wards in Camberwell and SE5. The following issues will be covered:

• Improving public transport 

• Cycle hire and storage

• Improving Camberwell town centre

To book, please register for free on Eventbrite here.

We plan to invite a candidate from four parties (Conservatives, Greens, Labour and Lib Dems) representing Southwark and Lambeth, so eight candidates in total.

If you have a question for candidates, please write your question on the form when you register – or email us at admin@se5forum.org.uk with your question and your full name.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/local-election-hustings-camberwell-tickets-310503473247

Camberwell Talks Spring season
We’re kicking off our SE5 Forum Camberwell Talks 2022 season with a focus on music and design – three fascinating talks by talented locals on first Mondays, 7-9pm at The Crypt, St Giles Church. 

– Broadcaster, blogger and vinyl afficianado Anna Doble (7 Feb). 
– Musician and force behind Jazz Live at The Crypt Russell Occomore (7 March).
– Mini Moderns, the Camberwell-based homeware designers Keith and Mark. 
We hope you’ll join us. 

Tickets £10/£7 concession (with free drink). For more information and to book tickets on Eventbrite, click here

Green Corridors in Camberwell – have your say!

Thursday 24 February, 7pm 
• Which streets would you choose to walk or cycle if there was less traffic and car pollution?  
• How can we link up our parks and open spaces to create routes not just for people, but for nature to link up?
• Come and hear about the green routes planned for SE5.  
Join neighbours and local community groups for a Zoom session to map out routes for Green Corridors. Let’s get ahead of local policies and planning, so we can be proactive and clear about our community’s priorities.  

To book tickets, go to: https://bit.ly/3KQ6Gwg
 
The Trees and Green Spaces group is an initiative by SE5 Forum for Camberwell and the Camberwell Society camberwellsociety.org.uk.

Graffiti in the town centre: take our survey 

How do you feel about the graffiti around Camberwell town centre? Would you like to see your council do more to remove it? Or perhaps it doesn’t bother you. Do you have any concerns about dog fouling on pavements? We want to know what you think so we’ve created a super short survey  to get your views so we could present any specific issues to the council. Many thanks if you could take a few minutes to fill in our survey here: https://forms.gle/rxbve338puqhnr8C9

Cycle parking around the station  
Are you unsure how to use the new, locked cycle parking in Windsor Walk by the new Denmark Hill station entrance? Did you know it’s free?
Just apply for a free Key Smartcard (also usable for rail ticketing). Then use to scan in. You can get your Key Smartcard here: The Key Smartcard | Southern Railway

Southwark Pensioners 
In this challenging winter, Southwark Pensioners is running vital Winter Wellbeing support for older people. Their projects include: BESN Saving Energy Costs, Ageing Well Warm and Well, Being Prepared this winter – avoiding slips and falls (below), and the Warm and Well Small Grants Programme.  

If you would like to learn more, call Southwark Pensioners on 020 7708 4556 or ring the Ageing Well Southwark service on 020 7358 4077.

You can also email: advice@southwarkpensioners.org.uk or find out more on their website: www.southwarkpensioners.org.uk

Southwark Council News 
Cultural Celebrations Fund Southwark Council’s Cultural Celebrations Fund is now open for applications. The fund will support outdoor events between 1 May 2022 and 31 March 2023. Applicants are invited to apply for a maximum of £10,000. Applications need to be in by 9am on Wednesday 9 February 2022. More info here

***THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CAME TO THE SE5 Forum AGM 2021 – How to create a better Camberwell

Wednesday 6 October 6.30-8.30pm on Zoom 

We would like to invite you to join our next online AGM 2021: How to Create a Better Camberwell.

Following on from our successful public event in July, our invited speakers will focus on how to:
• fill empty retail spaces on our high streets
• create a community space
• make Camberwell greener 

SE5 Forum board members will also talk about our achievements over the past year in our priority projects of Business, Transport, Identity and Environment. 

We will also be holding our annual Board Elections. We invite anyone to nominate themselves or others as new SE5 Forum board members. We welcome all applications and are also actively looking for more members who are from BAME background and/or under 40. 

If you’d like attend the AGM, please email: admin@se5forum.org.uk to register for Zoom details.

If you’d like to stand as a board member,please download this invitation for more information and email: admin@se5forum.org.uk with your name, contact details and a short statement on why you’d like to join us.  

• Joanna Large, who joined the board last year, is a specialist nurse at King’s College Hospital but also has a background in arts and culture. She successfully launched our new Camberwell Talks events last month with a sell-out first event. Joanna says: 
‘I started volunteering occasionally on the SE5 Forum market stall, then joined the Board last year. They backed my idea of having Camberwell Talks, which are now happening on the first Monday of the month at The Camberwell Arms. We’re now looking at how the community can use local empty shops and retail spaces. Even with a busy job and a family, I have been able to help the community through SE5 Forum.’

We are also looking to recruit more volunteers. Currently we would love to have board members and volunteers who can bring the following skills or expertise to SE5 Forum:
Transport: Expertise in rail planning process or bus policy/guidance
Environment: Experience in greening, urban planning, development/regeneration
Business: Planning, marketing, merchandising experience 
Community/Stakeholder: Experience in stakeholder/community engagement/consultation
Events: Help on our weekly market stall on the green, or help at other events. Events organising/ management experience or in stewarding, health and safety, AV/tech, photography, online events.
Marketing, PR & Content production: Producing press releases and/or social media or any other marketing content. Converting technical information into accessible material or Powerpoints. 
Website: WordPress website specialist to help upgrade SE5 Forum website 

Next Camberwell Talk on Monday 4 October at The Camberwell Arms
with local fine art photographer John Yabrifa 
After our sell-out first event, come and listen to John Yabrifa ponder pictures, philosophy and why community matters. John will be looking specifically at how photography and music has affected his life as a south London native.
Tickets include a free drink and there will be a raffle, interesting company and the welcoming atmosphere of The Camberwell Arms. We hope to see you there!
To buy tickets for £10 (£7 concession), go to Eventbrite: https://bit.ly/2Xai6qc