LWFCI-UK Newsletter & highlights of 2017

LWFCI-UK LAY WITNESSES FOR CHRIST INTERNATIONAL – UK 20 WIDMORE ROAD, BROMLEY, BR1 1RY. TEL 0203 583 3005, E: INFO@LWFCI.ORG.UK, WEB: WWW.LWFCI.ORG.UK

NEWS LETTER & HIGHLIGHTS FROM YEAR 2017 LWFCI-UK is a non-profit organisation and registered Charity in the UK, which operates in Bromley.

We reach out to children, young people and adults from the local communities, in order to positively impact their lives through various programmes. LWFCI offer Sports Clubs which consist of sports activities such as Football, Basketball Fitness, Yoga and mindfulness. We also offer Tutoring and creative social activities for children with special educational needs, as well as a Support forum group for parents and carers, with a training and employ-ability skills programme which assists people to have a better life.

We wanted to take this time to highlight the different things that we did in the year 2017 before it becomes a distant memory and to also inform you of what we are planning to achieve in year 2018

Highlights Of Our Project Work •

We provided 48 weekly sessions of Tutoring and Creative social activities for Children with Special Educational Needs

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We organised a Coach Trip to Joss Bay beach for 50 people including children and their families to spend time at the beach in August 2017

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We organised a Family Day Picnic with a Mini Golf activity at Kelsey Park in Beckenham during the summer holidays, where children and their families had a good time together with their peers and played with other people.

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We Organised Group Swimming at the Pavilion Leisure centre in Bromley during the summer holiday.

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We hosted 2 coffee mornings and participated in the accelerator crowd funding with Global Giving and managed to raise £1785 for Destiny Children Project and Family Support Project

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We hosted a Cooking and Health Workshop for the community in Orpington. We also had professional guest speakers who empowered families of children with special needs with valuable information on Education , Health and Care Plans, as well as advising on relevant support services available to families.

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We Provided 48 session of Exercise Fitness for women and Girls, Inclusive Football for boys and Girls in Orpington, as well as Inclusive Basketball for young people in Bromley.

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We celebrated Christmas together with all of our 30 participating children, Young people and their Families. We ended the year sharing food together, and with Santa coming to speak to the children and giving Christmas Gifts to the

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We hired 2 new Football coaches , 1 extra Tutor and 1 Basketball coach and 3 new volunteers and a new Trustee joining our team in 2017.

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We ended the year by securing a life time spot on Global giving crowd funding site in December 2017 as a Vetted organisation where we will continue to fundraise for our charity

Update of Destiny Children & Family Support Project Overview of the Project

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Destiny Children and Family Support project is managed by LWFCI-UK and led by a team of staff and volunteers whom the majority are themselves parents or carers of children with special needs and learning disabilities .

Sessions run every week on Mondays from 5-7pm at Bromley URC, BR1 1RY where children and young people receive tutoring support in Maths, English, Reading, Writing, and Creative Social Activities to boost communication and learning development.

The project also offers a Support Forum group for Parents and carers where they meet together on the 1st Monday of each month to share information and personal experiences, learn new tips from professional guest speakers, network with each other's and meet new people The Project has been running since November 2015 and continues to run weekly supporting Families who have children with with a range of dissabilities such as Autism, ADHD, speech and language difficulties as well as other learning disabilities, to learn and connect.

IMPACT OF THE PROJECT 

We are please to see that Destiny Children and Family Support Group is growing and has been accumulating positive outcomes. We have seen a good change and personal development in children and their families.

The project is increasing social communication and ties between children and their parents. The project is helping children and young people to develop good self esteem, improved social communication skills, increased more bonding with their parents and develop social integration.

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Children and Young people learn to connect more during social activities and Family Fun day outings that engage parents and their children together. Parents and young people are learning to design and take turn in choosing which topics to have during session and choosing what to do during activities which build learning skills, creativity, leadership skills, engaging more in the community and connect with each others to create frienship.

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Destiny Children and Family Support Group is currently funded by Big Lottery " Awards for All”. We appreciate their funding supporting this project.

Family Support Forum Group

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The Support forum Group gave the opportunity for Parents & Carers to meet together with the aim of sharing Information, experiences and to discuss common issues and get advice and support from professional Guest Speakers.

Meetings run once every month on the 1st Monday of each month at 5pm in Bromley

ďƒ˜ We had professional guest speakers from Bromley Parent Voice , Bromley Mencap, and the NHS, who empowered families with valuable information on the Education , Health and Care Plans of children with disabilities. We learned about relevant support services available to families, and parents and Carers had the opportunity to network with others while the children were learning and doing creative social activities.

Family Day Outings and Educational Day Trip

ďƒ˜ In 2017, we organized Family Day Outing Trip to Joss Bay Beach, a Family Picnic day out, Group Swimming, Bouncy Castle with Soft play during schools holiday and half terms.

ďƒ˜ It was nice to see children and families spending good quality time together and have fun regardless of daily challenges.

Holidays and Half terms Activities for children and families Having time together playing Mini Golf with Destiny Children at Kelsey Park

ďƒ˜ Children and families had opportunity to go out together as a group to play , socialize with others and have fun in a secure environment

Christmas and Holidays Celebration ďƒ˜ We ended the year celebrating Christmas together with all our members and families , sharing food and everyone was happy to be part of it.

ďƒ˜ Santa was here giving out Christmas gifts to children and young people, it was lovely to see our children happy together.

More of our Christmas Celebration ďƒ˜

We are grateful to local stores such as Sainsbury Orpington, Tesco Orpington ,Iceland Bromley, The Entertainment shop in Bromley, and few local shops who supported with small gift gifts and snacks which was given to children and families at our for Christmas.

Thanks to the Parents who gave Gifts hamper bags for our raffles

Testimonials and feedback quotes from Participants. ď ą

" The communication and ideas shared led us to understand how important it is for our children to be connected, reassured and developed through social skills, which are core in developing self esteem and confidence"- Parent member .

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" Opportunities to exchange parent experiences with other families as to what we have to encounter in everyday challenges as parents, and how we utilize our instincts to resolve those issues. Inclusion and acceptance is what my child gains from the group" - Participant carer

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It's very educational, and I feel connected when my child takes part in activities, it really helps to improve social skills and learning development "- on behalf of the young participant

LWFCI SPORTS CLUB LWFCI Sport Club is a sports project for young people and adults seeking to engage in sports activities. We offer various activities of sports, including Football for boys and Girls, Exercise Fitness for Women and Girls , Yoga , Mindfulness Meditation, and Basketball for Young people, as well as everyday forms of Sport inspiration. The project is currently funded by Affinity Sutton (Clarion Housing Group)

Exercise Fitness, Yoga classes for Women and Girls Orpington ďƒ˜

Women and Girls of all ages get the opportunity to Exercise and keep fit for life and to stay healthy . The sessions run every Saturday at the Orpington Fire station from 10:30am-12:30pm. We also host Occasional Workshop on Health and Cooking for wellbeing

Inclusive Football for Boys and Girls in Orpington •

Football is for all boys and girls aged 8-14 years and is running every Saturday from 12pm -1pm in Orpington at Harris Academy Football ground and is free to Affinity Sutton (Clarion residents) or £1 per session for other residents.

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Young people have built a good relationship with their coaches and have created new friendships with their peers. Parents are very happy with the success of the LWFCI sports club, and have been giving positive feedback week after week on the results of improved fitness levels and good behaviour among the young people attending.

Inclusive Basketball for young people in Bromley Active Kids In Action •

The aim of our sports activities is to develop people's confidence, self-esteem, aspirations, social development as well as improving their physical and mental health.

For The love of the game •

Our Basketball sessions allow young people of all abilities to play basketball for good health and wellbeing. The learn to develop social skills, good behaviours, awareness of the love of God through sports, promoting sportsmanship, and fitness in a non-competitive environment.

Resources and how to connect with us.

Our office address is : LWFCI-UK, 20 Widmore Road, Bromley, BR1 1RY. Tel 0203 583 3005, Email: info@lwfci.org.uk Donation link on to support this project on Global Global giving: http://bit.ly/2zMBWeE Website: www.lwfci.org.uk https://www.facebook.com/LWFCIUK https://twitter.com/LwfciUk THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SUPPORTER, FUNDERS, STAFF, VOLUNTEERS AND MEMBERS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT IN THE PREVIOUS YEARS AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORK TOGETHER IN 2018 . YOUR SUPPORT WILL ALWAYS BE APPRECIATED . TOGETHER WE ARE MAKING A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITIES.