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Beechtree Centre Closure – Community Cars Update

The Beechtree Community Centre is very pleased to announce, the Community Cars scheme will continue beyond the centres closure, of 30th June 2022, for members of the Whitchurch community.

This service has proven invaluable for many people who are unable to use other forms of transport and need essential transport to appointments such as hospital, doctors, dentist, & opticians as well as essential food shopping or bank appointments. 

Linda Field, Beechtree’s Administrator, has managed the scheme very successfully for a number of years and will remain in post, away from the centre, as a Volunteer, to manage the project. With the full support of Shropshire Council, this is fantastic news for our town. With a small group of friendly volunteers providing this service, we can continue to support those in need with pre-arranged travel, to and from, health and wellbeing appointments.

The scheme will have priority bookings for any hospital appointments and must be made in advance to avoid any disappointment of service. To enquire of this service please maintain contact with Linda on 07597723257.

 

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Beechtree Centre Closure – Youth Activities Update

Updated 22nd June 2022.

With the continued support of both the SYA and the Trustees, we are pleased to confirm that our Thursday evening youth activities will be extended beyond June 30th. Sessions will continue as normal at the centre up to and including Thursday 21st July 2022. The trustees are looking for local partners to provide a venue after the summer holidays and will update all involved in the programme. Youth activities are already fully paid in advance and funding is not an issue.

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Beechtree Centre Closure – Activities Update

With great regret the Beechtree Community Centre is having to permanently close on June 30th 2022. 

Youth Activities

Youth activities will continue as normal at the centre up to and including Thursday 30th June 2022. The trustees are looking for local partners to provide a venue from that date and will update all involved in the programme. Youth activities are already fully paid in advance and funding is not an issue.

Community Cars

The programme will continue to operate from the centre until mid July 2022. A new phone number will be issued to all users of the service before that date.

Other Services

The trustees are working with other local partners to ensure, that as far as possible, that the services continue. Regular updates will be made on this website.

The trustees and staff would like to extend their wholehearted thanks to all those who have donated to the charity, and their  good wishes we have received.

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Beechtree Centre is Closing – Information Release

Press Release:

The Beechtree Community Centre is having to permanently close June 30th 2022.

After 27 years continuous service to Whitchurch and the surrounding areas the Beechtree Centre for Health and Wellbeing is having to close down. The charity has faced unprecedented difficulties in attempting to raise funds following the covid lockdowns after being unable to obtain grants from major donors, and is no longer financially sustainable.

Mrs. Sheila Chase, the current Chair of Trustees, explained that some new volunteers came in as trustees a few months ago to try to save the charity. “The situation we inherited was grave and we redoubled efforts to obtain funding, but the huge increase in the number of organizations looking for funds has meant that the Beechtree has been unsuccessful.” Additionally, many of the groups who booked the Beechtree pre-covid and hired its meeting rooms have not been able to return following the lockdown, with a significant loss of income.

Over the years, the Beechtree has served the community by, among many other things, providing school holiday meals to underprivileged children, helping individual adults to return to work after a long break, youth activities, and hosting programmes for the NHS.

“We have been managing on our cash reserves and a number of smaller donations from local people and organizations,” Mrs. Chase explained. “But now we’re about to face significant debts. Despite trustees donating their own money to the charity and putting in a considerable amount of our time, we have been unable to rescue the charity.”

She emphasized that this is not an appeal for donations as, kind though they would be, they would not be enough to solve the problem. “Trustees and employees are all deeply upset by the situation and are navigating the difficult closedown procedures. In particular, we feel terribly saddened for the five staff who are employed by us.”

The Trustees are working with local partners to ensure, as far as possible, that these services continue.

Although the Beechtree will close its doors on June 30th, phone lines will remain open until mid – July.

The Trustees and staff wish to thank all those who have contributed to the centre.

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Cafe Menu – New and Improved!

Lisa and Rose have been working hard and have placed together a new menu for the Cafe! We are delighted to have this menu available for you!

With plenty of freshly made food to order, a selection of Barista styled drinks, and a selection of snacks, we are sure you will enjoy your experience with us!

In a rush? Why not try our Grab and Go Menu?

Enjoy a freshly made cold sandwich, snack and cold drink for only £4.50! Fancy a hot sandwich instead, add on only 50p. 

Our doors open from 10.15am to 1.30pm, so feel free to come down and meet our wonderful team who will happily make your visit one to remember. 

*NHS Staff recieve 10% off all purchases made with the appropriate ID. 

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Weekly Youth Sessions Nearly Upon Us!

A friendly reminder that we still have some availability for our Youth Sessions due to start on Thursday 9th June at the Beechtree!

Please see the below from our original post on the 25th May:

Great news for the Children of Whitchurch. Weekly Youth Sessions will be ran at the Beechtree FREE OF CHARGE!* for the first month starting:

Thursday 9th June 2022!

With great support from Shropshire Youth Association, Emma Foster will be leading the sessions, offering a number of fun and exciting things for the children to be involved with, every Thursday evening, term time only. Supported by Volunteers, our aim is to deliver a service that provides parents with an opportunity to enjoy some free time, and the children a chance to enjoy meeting others, and have some fun!

Primarily for children in year 6 and above, we are currently able to accept children from Year 5, as they shall be in Year 6 by September, as our year 7’s move onwards and upwards and into the older group session. 

Please spread the word, this is a fantastic service to have in Whitchurch, for our community members, and one that will be invested in continually over the year to come. 

Consent forms will require to be completed before any child’s attendance on the sessions so do please contact us as soon as possible with your enquiry of placement, for it to be sent to you by email.  

A tuck shop will be made available for the purchasing of drinks and sweets, at very low pricing.

Should you, or any persons you may be aware of, have any financial difficulties in having a child attend our session(s), please contact our Centre Manager David in the first instance to learn of the extra available support on 01948 258 220. 

*We would like to extend our thanks and appreciation of an in-memoriam donation from the family of a service user, to provide the first months sessions free to all young people.  

Going forward, weekly subs of £1 will be re-invested back into the sessions and used for the provision of activities for the group eg craft materials, sports kits, etc

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Functional Fitness MOTs Nearly Upon us!

Our Functional Fitness Days are nearly upon us and we still have a number of spaces available for you to attend your free Health Check.

Led by the  Community Resource team the Functional Fitness MOTs will take place on:

Wednesday 8th June from 10.30am to 2pm

The Functional Fitness MOTs are programmes to help to reduce the risk of falling for older people. Activities include one-to-one fitness tests measuring strength, balance, flexibility and stamina. There is also information on how to reduce the risk of falling – with a demonstration of how to get up from the floor after a fall – plus a free taster exercise class.

Functional Fitness MOTs are open to people aged 60 – 95. Places are limited and booking is essential. For more information and to book your place, please call 01743 360641, or to discuss this further please contact the Beechtree on 01948 258220.

Attendance is free but charitable donations are gratefully received.

Come and join us, we offer a great selection of food and drink from our cafe within a warm and friendly atmosphere.

Further details can be found at Community Resource

We look forward to welcoming you soon,

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Jubilee Day – 5th June!

In the warming words of Queen Elizabeth:

“I hope this Jubilee will bring together families and friends, neighbours and communities.”

Could we have said this any better? We are really looking forward to celebrating the Queens Jubilee this weekend with plenty of fun filled events taking place on Deermoss playing Fields, June 5th from 12pm. 

The Beechtree Centre will be opening their doors for the community to use our facilities, from 12pm to 3pm. Come and have a bite to eat with our ‘grab and go’ range from our Cafe, or enjoy a hot drink to sit in/ take away.

We have a number of activities taking place including Children’s Art Activities, Boccia, Our Stall in the Park, and a walk around our Secret Garden!

If you need toilets, food, drink or a safe space away from the crowds for a while do call in!

Happy Jubilee!

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Bingo Change of Date..

Our beloved Bingo Dave will be unavailable for our planned Bingo session on the 7th June together. However, to avoid any disappointment the Bingo has been moved to: 

Thursday June 9th (1pm to 2.30pm)

We have had great success on our last 2 Bingo sessions with many people taking home some fabulous prizes, and large smiles on their faces. 

Booking is highly recommended due to demand.

We look forward to hearing and seeing you soon!

 

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Functional Fitness MOTs

The Beechtree is delighted in welcoming the Community Resource team to our Community Centre for the Functional Fitness MOTs to take place on:

Wednesday 8th June from 10.30am to 2pm

The Functional Fitness MOTs are programmes to help to reduce the risk of falling for older people. Activities include one-to-one fitness tests measuring strength, balance, flexibility and stamina. There is also information on how to reduce the risk of falling – with a demonstration of how to get up from the floor after a fall – plus a free taster exercise class.

Functional Fitness MOTs are open to people aged 60 – 95. Places are limited and booking is essential. For more information and to book your place, please call 01743 360641, or to discuss this further please contact the Beechtree on 01948 258220.

Attendance is free but charitable donations are gratefully received.

Come and join us, we offer a great selection of food and drink from our cafe within a warm and friendly atmosphere.

Further details can be found at Community Resource

We look forward to welcoming you soon,