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Image description: around 20 people sat around a large table, waving happily at the camera, smiling and eating. A mix of ages and nationalities, with a large selection of food to choose from. One of the projects that has developed most naturally and (excuse the pun) organically, is our Bring and Share Lunch. The bakery team and other volunteers and staff needed to eat. So we ate alongside each other. Then we started to share the fresh bread, and our homecooked and shop-bought

We have been so grateful for the companies and individuals who have supported the set up of our bakery , including Incredible Surplus  and the lovely folks at our local Cooperative Food  store. One of those is the inspiring Wildfarmed .  Wildfarmed make very special flour. Through the varieties they grow and the way they grow it, they are showing that food production can be done with compassion for our planet. And what's more the flavour from these varieties is out of this wo

Image is of a cricket ball on grass with the Women & Theatre logo and the title 'Women/girls & Cricket' Women, Girls & Cricket: A Thousand Threads Drop-in research session by Women & Theatre at Bearwood Community Hub, 21 October, 2-3.30pm Inspired by Women’s Cricket featuring in the Commonwealth Games for the first time in 2022, Birmingham based theatre company Women and Theatre (W&T) will produce a new intergenerational community production about women, girls, & cricket. Per

And it's up! The We Are Bearwood tapestry,  made by over 100 local people during lockdown, now has a permanent home at Bearwood Community Hub in our coworking & community room. A colour image of two men proudly standing in front of the tapestry, a woodland scene with a bear in the background. In the foreground is a table with a volunteer's tools laid out ready for use. Thank you John and Ian for putting it up for us. It's the nanny volunteers like you who make our space such

Over lockdown Sandwell NEU started an initiative to create access to educational resources for those struggling during the pandemic. So far they have donated £8000 worth of materials to local schools and organisations to enrich and spark creativity amongst young people . This fully aligns with what we are trying to achieve here at the Hub by allowing children room to have fun, express themselves as well as have a go at new things. Today, Rose and Paul delivered books, paints

We have finished the evaluation of the Bearwood Bonds project! The project ran from January 2021 till June. We are so pleased that this project was able to go ahead and help us reach people we wouldn’t have come into contact with on social media, even during the middle of a pandemic in a safe and secure way. What was the Bearwood Bonds Project? The project was a way for us to keep in contact with the community. Hub staff posted leaflets and residents left the leaflet in the w

We’re going to do a quick update here so that you all know what’s going on. There’s more to write, but we’ve just found out that we’ve been successful in getting funding to deliver a playscheme for children locally who are eligible for free school meals (you rock @MarcusRashford!), and we have a lot to sort, very exciting! Anyway, you will hopefully know that we have been planning for a number of years now (thanks, Covid!) to work with St Mary’s Church on Bearwood Road to ren

Help the Hub! Hi! We’ve had a bit of a tumultuous couple of months working out our future and how to enable the community space that so many of you have told us is needed and have helped to design. BUT, we have two big funding applications coming up and we want to try and show the funders that people are behind us. With that in mind, Sally has done a quick (and shaky!) video to explain what we need. Would you watch it and then send her one back, to 07599 595 514? Sorry about

The co-creation of a Bearwood Art & Culture Manifesto with The Bearwood Young Person’s Design Company As some of you might be aware, during the first lockdown in 2020 The Bearwood Young Person’s Design Company was born! They have have gone from strength to strength: They developed, made and sold hand-made sustainable textile products which can be found HERE. They were commissioned to take part in the art and food festival “In The Mix” by Sandwell CEP The latest project they h

We are really pleased to announce that Bearwood Community Hub CIC is now a Community Partner with Brum YODO for ‘In Memoriam’ by Luke Jerram. From the 8th – 16th May,  Brum YODO and Birmingham Hippodrome will be presenting In Memoriam   – an open-air artwork by internationally renowned artist Luke Jerram – in Aston Park  as part of Dying Matters Awareness Week 2021. Featuring 120 flags created from bed sheets , In Memoriam  is a temporary memorial for the public to visit and

What is Dip into a Book? Volunteer leader Coral Musgrave tells us all about it A time to unwind, sit back, relax and listen to a short story. You are welcome to bring a cuppa with you when you join us. There is no need to have read the story beforehand.  Dip into a Book is a shared reading group. Carefully chosen short stories, excerpts from novels and maybe a Poem for Pudding will be read aloud for you to listen to. A bit like a Book at Bedtime. You may choose to close your

It’s a question that four socially minded local entrepreneurs are inviting you and your children to explore on 26th October at 6pm, to celebrate the opening of the Bear Bookshop  at 588 Bearwood Road, a children’s bookshop focused on fostering a love of reading, storytelling and community. To celebrate the opening of Bear Bookshop, owner Jenny McAnn has invited Sally from Bearwood Community Hub, Amy from #RadicalChildcare  and Romany from the forthcoming Bearwood Road playroo

During lockdown we had heard from many young people that they wanted something purposeful to do and create during lockdown. By them and through partnership with Grand Union Arts in Brum, the Young Persons Design Company project was created, thanks to funding from the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner. One of the young designers collaborating on the project, Millie Brown, tells us all about her experience below. The Bearwood Young Person's Design Company  is a free d

Unfortunately we were not successful in our application to be included in the Smethwick Towns Fund (£25m from Government) . We usually try to stay super positive (especially because we don't want to look like we have sour grapes!) but we're really concerned about the process and the outcomes of the shortlisting stage. We think it’s important to share. Scroll (or read!) to the bottom for the survey link. Local people are being asked to complete the survey (shared on Council so

During lockdown, and throughout the summer months, Bearwood Community Hub has encouraged residents to get creative and make their own artwork to showcase in a community art exhibition. Until we can host a safe and socially distanced event, we have decided to host the artwork online for everyone to see and appreciate.  It’s right here . And here’s a sneak peak: And because we’ve had such lovely entries we think might inspire others, we’ve decided to extend the deadline to 31 O

Following on from our funding news , update from Sally Taylor, our project manager. A reminder: What is Bearwood Hub? Our first ever Bearwood Business Network meeting in January 2020 It’s not a physical space - yet!  But it is developing.  In the 6 months prior to lockdown Bearwood Community Hub CIC (not-for-profit Community Interest Company) was an idea for how the wonderful community spaces at St Mary’s Church on Bearwood Road could be used again, for us all to benefit from

We have great news! We’ve been successful in getting funding to finish off our pre-lockdown development work (community engagement and architectural feasibility study) and to build on some of the ace community initiatives that have started during the pandemic to support people in our community who are increasingly vulnerable because of Covid. Thank you to the National Lottery Community Fund for their support, it’s really amazing to have in these tough times. Now we can start

We are ridiculously excited to let you know about our newest project! In collaboration with Grand Union Arts, an awesome summer design project will support local young people to create their own design company. The Bearwood Young Persons’ Design Company. During July & August young people aged 16-18 will have the opportunity to work with artists and designers to develop creative products for sale and to learn about setting up a business. Young people and parents have been tell

We are delighted to be part of the brand new Sandwell Borough of Sanctuary network, working to ensure that Sandwell is a welcoming place for people seeking refuge. Here's a pic of Sally pledging our commitment to be part of the Borough of Sanctuary network Bearwood is very well represented in the Network, and so it should be - we have the nation’s very first library of Sanctuary! The network is launching today, Saturday 20 June, at the end of Refugee week. Please take a look

Accomplished at crochet? Experienced urban hen keeper? Inspiring spoken word artist? Talented designer? Whatever your skill, we can guarantee you’ll make someone’s day by sharing it. Trade School Online is an exciting experiment created by the people behind Trade School Dudley, Trade School Wolverhampton, Bearwood Trade School and Trade School Digbeth to connect, celebrate and share what people in our communities can do.  We started our Bearwood Trade School not long before l