‘ARF October/November Blog’

Hi All,
We are pleased to inform everyone that after three years of planning and tremendous support from Friends, Family and Bexley authority we finally collected our keys to our new home on the 18th November, hooray!

We are hoping to move into our new home on the 7th Dec once all the furnishings and fittings have been completed. Our parents and CRCB are working hard to ensure our CSW team are fully trained and able to support a 24/7 rota.

Fundraising Events:
A number of events were held during the months of October and November to raise further funds for ‘ARF':

Nik’s Cowboy Themed Party:

To celebrate Nik leaving home and commencing his new adventure with ‘ARF’ guests were invited to join a Cowboy themed evening with hat’s, Bucking Bronco and great food.

As you can see from the above pictures everyone had a great evening. The event raised £480 which included a raffle, personal donations and from the sale of an autographed set of 9 children’s books donated by the author Denis Bond.

Author Denis Bond

Nik’s Friends and Family also raised a further £250 in personal donations and fund raising on the behalf of ‘ARF’. Well done everyone!

Bangers & Burgers!:
Our great friend Diane held another ‘ARF’ event at her home on the 5th November to celebrate ‘Bonfire Night’. Guests were charged an entrance fee and the pleasure of eating Burgers & Hot Dogs. Everyone had a great night and the event raised £200.

Sleepover:
Charlotte’s Aunt Cheryl held another Girls night at her home and charged guests for the pleasure of an overnight stay and morning breakfast. Well breakfast turned into more of a ‘Brunch’ due to the amount of liquid refreshments consumed the night before ha,ha.

The girls giggled all-night long and raised £145 in the process Zzzzzzzzzzz!

Churchill Insurance:

Charlotte’s Mum Kay was presented with a cheque for the sum of £1,125.30 during November which was raised on the behalf of ‘ARF’ throughout various events during 2009.

The above picture includes Charlotte’s Aunt Jackie and her colleagues from the RBS Business Support team who continue to support ‘ARF’ with further events scheduled for December.

We also received a further Cheque for the sum of £300 which was a RBS team award which the team kindly agreed to donate to ‘ARF’.

Once again a big thank you goes to everyone at Churchill’s/RBS for their continued support.

Well what a couple of busy months it’s been and how pleased we are to be able to share our amazing news about receiving the keys to our new home. We will update you next month with our progress to finally achieving our dream of living independently in our own home. So don’t forget to check our blog towards the end of December for the best Christmas present ever!

Until next time, thank you everyone for your continued support!

Cheerio’
Charlotte, Kerrie & Nik : ) lol

PS: There are a few tickets left for the Twins Christmas Party in Dartford on Sunday 6th December at £25 per person. Please check the blog for further details

Back by request – The ‘ARF Twins Night’ (Part 2)!

Since the success of the last ARF Twins Night back in June we’ve had numerous requests to hold an additional event at Twins Restaurant in Dartford. So we’ve decided to hold a Christmas Party to celebrate the success of ‘ARF’ living their dream.

Date: Sunday 6th December
Time: 7:00pm – 11:30pm
Venue: Twins Restaurant, 3-4 Copperfields Shopping Centre, Spital St, Dartford DA1 2DE

We’ve managed to secure a VIP area for 100 ‘ARF’ guests to enjoy a Chinese Banquet and dance to the sound of 60, 70, & 80’s Soul Classic’s provided by ‘The Funky Soul Sisters’.

Tickets* for the event are £25 per person which includes various Chinese speciality dishes from Twins Hors D’oeuvre, Pancake & Main courses menu, music from ‘The Funky Soul Sisters’.

Due to the limited amount of tickets available for the evening we recommend purchasing your ticket(s) early to avoid disappointment. You can purchase your ticket(s) now in full or a £10 deposit per person will secure your ticket(s) and the remaining amount must be paid in full by 27th November or the ticket(s) will be resold.

Mixed groups or groups of ladies are welcome, please make up a table with your group and enjoy the festivities of the evening.

Anyone requiring additional information or wishing to donate a raffle prize please contact one of the following:

Diane Connor, 35 Victoria Hill Road, Hextable, BR8 7LL
Telephone No's: 01322 660964 or 07855 327452
Email: d.connor4@ntlworld.com

We look forward to seeing you all on the 6th December for a wonderful night of food and dancing!

*NB: All alcoholic and soft drink beverages are NOT included in the price of the event ticket and must be purchased and paid for by guests.

Yee-haw! - Ride ‘em’ Cowboy

Howdy Partner,
Why not join us to celebrate Cowboy Nik’s next big adventure with a leaving home ‘Rodeo’ party on Saturday 10th October from 6pm onwards at:

Spring Cottage,
11 Clarence Crescent,
Sidcup,
Kent DA14 4DG
RSVP Tricia: 07988 027785 or 020 8302 6804
Email: triciatsatsoulis@googlemail.com

The evening includes the following:
- Bucking Bronco 6:30 – 9:30pm
- Karaoke from 8pm
- Fajitas & Paella
- Sangria & Beer (please bring a bottle)
- Raffle (All profits go to Abbey Road Friends)

The evening is a Cowboy theme so wear jeans, etc. but ALL guns must be left at the Sheriff’s office.

Hi Ho Silver!

‘ARF September Blog’

Hi All,

We have some tremendous news to share with you all this month regarding the amazing support ‘ARF’ continue to receive in living our dream:

Axis Disco at the Valley:

Axis foundation held a disco evening at Charlton Athletic Football Club on Friday 18th September in support of ‘ARF’. The event was well attended with over 250 guests that included Axis staff, ‘ARF’ friends and family. There was also red carpet treatment for one very special guest; can you guess who?

That’s right; it was none other than our own ‘ARF’ celebrity, Kerrie. Kerrie and all the guests had a great evening boogying on the dance floor, which unfortunately was not captured due to a total ban on the paparazzi.

The evening raised an amazing £4,000 which is absolutely tremendous, but that’s not all. Axis foundation have agreed to match the amount raised on the evening and double it to a staggering £8,000. Axis will use the £8,000 raised to purchase items to furnish the ‘ARF’ property from a very large shopping list.

‘ARF’ and Family would like to thank the Axis foundation for their generous support in living our dream. We would also like to personally thank John Hayes, Tim Hayes and the Axis staff for their amazing generosity and support in organising the event which raised such an incredible final evening total.

THANK YOU AXIS!

Keep on Running:
Faith Lee completed the Adidas Women’s 5K Challenge on the 6th September, a day after her birthday in a time of 45 minutes. Faith dedicated her run in support of ‘ARF’ and raised £150.

Faith now has the bug and is setting her sites on bigger events and has agreed to support ‘ARF’ further by running the ‘Silverstone ½ Marathon’ in March 2010. Anyone wishing to sponsor Faith & ARF please contact abbeyroad.friends@googlemail.com. Well done Faith on a great achievement.

Woo Woo Punch & Vodka Jelly’s:
Kerrie’s Mum Tracey held a BBQ for Family and Friends on the 12th September in support of ‘ARF’. Guests made a donation for the pleasure of BBQ food, Woo Woo Punch, Orange & Raspberry Vodka Jelly’s. The event raised £140

Taxi for?:
Friends of Kerrie’s Mum Tracey have been making donations towards travel costs when Tracey has driven them on a trip or night out. The total raised to date is £60

Ladies Pamper & Shopping Night:

Friday 25th September ‘ARF’s good friend Diane held a ‘Ladies Pamper and Shopping Night’ in a Scout Hall in Dartford, in support of ‘ARF’. There were numerous stalls providing various beauty treatments, fashion jewellery, lingerie, Krispy Kreme donuts, etc.

The final amount raised on the evening was £175

Personal Donations:
We would also like to thank a number of ‘ARF’ family and friends who have made personal donations, which are very much appreciated.

Our New Home:
Our excitement continues to grow with the thought of seeing our new home, but unfortunately we still have no confirmation of completion yet from Hexagon the contractors. We continue to ask our parents to drive past the property for an update on progress and as you can see from the picture above things look on track?

Well that’s about it again for another busy month and what an amazing month it’s been with everyone supporting us in living our dream. We will continue to keep the blog updated with future events and any news regarding our completion date, so keep checking.

Until next time, thank you everyone for your continued support!

Cheerio’

Charlotte, Kerrie & Nik : ) lol

‘ARF August Blog’

We all hope you enjoyed your summer holidays?

Our Friends and Family continued to support us throughout August with a number of events which also utilised the sunny weather.

BBQ & Girls Night:
Charlotte’s Aunt Chrissie and Cheryl held two events during August by inviting Family and Friend’s to a BBQ and Girl’s night to which they encouraged guest’s to make donations for food and the pleasure of a sleepover with breakfast. The combined total raised at both events’ which included a raffle was £230. Everyone had a great time, well done Aunt Chrissie and Cheryl

Churchill Insurance:
Our friends at Churchill Insurance Bromley continue to support ‘ARF’ this month by raising a further £254 from an internal staff raffle which brings the grand total raised to date to an amazing £792. The team plan to attend a ‘Boot’ sale in the near future with donations of items from staff with all proceeds going to ‘ARF’.

Thank you to everyone at Churchill’s for their continued support and commitment in helping ‘ARF’ live our dream

Cross Roads Care Bexley:
Our parents continue to work with CRCB in recruiting Care Support Workers staff in conjunction with the ‘ARF’ project and the latest interviews are scheduled to take place during October

Our New Home:
Our parents were lucky enough to view our new home this month and we are pleased to confirm that it exceeded ALL their expectations. Unfortunately we were are unable to attend the visit due to Health & Safety reasons but we are getting really excited about seeing our new home for the first time!

Hexagon have advised us that they are behind schedule by a couple of weeks and our new home should be ready by end of October

Well that’s about it again for another month. As always we would like to thank everyone for their continued support and generosity in supporting ‘ARF’ live their dream.

Cheerio’

Charlotte, Kerrie & Nik : ) lol

PS: Don’t forget to keep up with the latest news and events on the ‘ARF’ Bulletin Board to the right of this Blog!

You deserve to be pampered!

Feeling tired and stressed, why not treat yourself or a loved one to a ‘Holistic Massage’


From August Nik’s Mum Tricia we be providing ‘Relaxing Holistic Massages’ in the comfort of your own home. Tricia is an ITEC Qualified Therapist and a member of CTHA.

The sessions last an hour which consists of half hour consultation and half hour massage all for the low cost of £15 (all profits go to ‘ARF’).

Please contact Tricia on either 07988 027785 or tricia_tsatsoulis_123@hotmail.co.uk to arrange an appointment.

'ARF July Blog’

Hi Everyone,

During July Family and friends continued to support ‘ARF’ in ‘Living their dream’ by supporting the following events: -

Only Crumbs Remaining:
On the 18th July Charlotte’s mum Kay held a Coffee & Cake Morning which was a great success. Various scrummy cakes were made by family and friends which included coffee & walnut cake, bakewell tarts, lemon sponge, carrot cake, chocolate rocky horror and many other types of mouth watering fat free delights!

If that wasn’t enough one of the prizes for the raffle was an afternoon tea for two at Brands Hatch Place Hotel, which was kindly, donated by the Hotel.

The total raised from the event that included personal donations was an amazing £515

Am I going to win the lottery? :
July was the start of Tarot & Physic reading evenings which have been extremely popular. Due to demand Nicky and Tracey have agreed to continue readings on Wednesday s evenings, but they advise pre-booking your session ASAP by either contacting one of the following 07971 007192 or tracey.hattley@btinternet.com to avoid disappointment (further details can be found on the ‘ARF’ Bulletin Board right of this blog)

Churchill .....Says oh yes please.....:
On the 24th July Charlotte’s Aunt Jackie and work colleagues at Churchill’s Insurance Bromley held a Cake & Book morning in support of ‘ARF’. Yet again as you can see from the pictures below various donations were made in the form of cakes and cookies.

Charlotte and her Mum Kay attended the event and made some wonderful new friends.

The event raised a whooping £527 and the Churchill team have agreed to organise additional events in the future to support ‘ARF’. Thank you everyone at Churchill’s for your support and hospitality.

Cross Roads Care Bexley:
An Open Recruitment Day was held at Pier Road Erith on the 25th July for potential Care Support Workers and Team Leader to have the opportunity to meet ‘ARF’. The day was a great success and ‘ARF’ made many new friends.

The interview process will be on-going through August – September to finalise the ‘ARF’ staff team before beginning our great adventure of living independently of our families.

Our New Home:
Hexagon have confirmed that the property completion date is on schedule for 28th September and we hope to visit the property for the first time with our parents on the 27th August (yippee we can’t wait!)

Well that’s about it until next month. We would once again like to thank everyone for their continued support and generosity in supporting ‘ARF’ live their dream.

Like Charlotte and Kerrie who are on summer holidays after completing their second year at NASH college ‘ARF’ would like to wish you a happy summer holidays with your families whether you’re staying at home or planning a breakaway!

Cheerio’
Charlotte, Kerrie & Nik : ) lol

PS: Don’t forget to keep up with the latest news and events on the ‘ARF’ Bulletin Board to the right of this Blog!

ARF/CRCB Recruitment Open Day

Do you have or are you working towards an NVQ 2 in social care, or possess an equivalent vocational qualification?

Do you think that young adults with severe disabilities deserve to have the same lifestyle opportunities as everyone else?

Do you want to know how you could be employed to make this happen?

Crossroads Care Bexley is looking to recruit a range of staff for the ‘Abbey Road Friends’ (ARF) Project, to support 3 young adults with physical and learning disabilities who wish to live independently in their own home from the end of September 2009.

Vacancies exist for a Project Team Leader and up to 15 Care Support staff to support clients over a period of 24 hours, 7 days a week including bank holidays.

Come and join us for an informal chat, you may just be the person we are looking for................

On
Saturday 25th July 2009
10.30 am – 4 pm
at
Crossroads Care Bexley
Pier Road Centre, 42 Pier Road,
(Next to the old Woolworths store)
Erith, Kent DA8 1TA

Refreshments will be available

Our staff and members of the ARF project families will be available to answer any questions you may have, to discuss the specific job roles available and to explain how these new opportunities can develop your skills, knowledge and experience.

If you would like further information, please contact our office on 01322 336086 email info@crossroadscarebexley.org.uk or simply come along on the day............

The Pier Road reception area is fully accessible.

• Parking is available at Morrison’s Car Park (free) or The Old Market Site next to Farmfoods (ticket required, first 3 hours free)
• Bus Routes: B12, 469 and 428
• Train: Nearest station is Erith

‘ARF June Blog’

Hi All,
Another busy month in which we saw tremendous support from our friends and families in helping us ‘Live Our Dream: -

Twins Night:
As some of you may be aware from our previous ‘May Blog’ we had an unbelievable response to our Twins Night which was held at the Twins Chinese Restaurant in Dartford, at the beginning of June. The final total raised from the event was a staging £1,522. We would like to thank everyone for their generosity and support in making the evening such a great success.

We received so many enquires to when the next event would be taking place, that we are currently reviewing dates and options for ‘Twins Reunion’. Watch this space for an update!

Coffee and Cake Morning:
Our event’s organizer and good friend Diane held a coffee and cake morning in support of ‘ARF’ at her home in Hextable on the 25th June. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed the assortment of scrummy cakes that were kindly donated by individuals and a local supermarket chain.

The event raised £234 in support of ‘ARF’.

Birthday Girl:
Our kind friend Margaret hosted a ‘Girls Night’ on the 26th June to celebrate her upcoming birthday. Margaret asked her friends to donate in support of ‘ARF’ rather than buying her a birthday gift. With the recent good weather the girls enjoyed drinks and nibbles in the garden, late into the evening.

Everyone had a great evening catching up with friends and having a good old girly gossip. Due to Margaret and everyone’s generosity the evening raised £310.

Cross Roads Care Bexley:
The end of June saw the closing date for applicants applying for the ‘ARF’ positions of ‘Care Support Workers’ and ‘Team Leader’. Early July will see the interview short listings and our parents meeting the potential candidates.

OK that’s about it for this month; we would just like to thank everyone for their ongoing support and generosity in helping us live our dream!

Cheerio’
Charlotte, Kerrie & Nik : )

PS: Don’t forget to keep up with the latest news and events on the section to the right of this ‘Blog’

Twins Night - They could have danced all night..............

On Wednesday 3rd June at 7:30pm, one hundred Abbey Road Friends and Family gathered at Twins Restaurant in Dartford to participate in an evening of great food, entertainment and most importantly of all a catch-up with old friends.


The evening commenced with a banquet of mouth watering Chinese speciality dishes which just seemed to keep coming. Whilst everyone was enjoying their noodles and aromatic crispy duck, 2,000 raffle tickets were sold which raised a total of £368. The winner of the first prize received two tickets for a top West End Show and Meal at a London Restaurant. Other lucky winners received various prizes of hampers, digital photo frames, gift vouchers, various bottles of drink, etc.........

Then it was time to hit the dance floor with ‘Julie Wright’, Barbra Streisand tribute act and disco.


Then before we knew it the night had come to a close and we had to say our goodbyes until next time!

We hope those who attended the event had a great time and we would like to thank everyone for their support in making the evening such a success. We would also like to thank family and friends who made individual donations and provided such wonderful array of raffle prizes.

Thank you from ‘ARF’:
We continue to be amazed by everyone’s generosity and support to enable us to ‘Live Our Dream’, it’s so wonderful. Through your generosity the Twins Night raised a total of £1,522 which is beyond our wildest dreams. It was so pleasing to see so many old friends in the pictures; especially those who helped begin our journey all those years ago at Marlborough.

We would like to thank our parents for their love and support, but there is one very special friend who we owe so much for helping us ‘Live Our Dream’ and that is Diane Connor who co-ordinated the ‘Twins Night’ and so many other events. Without her commitment and support our dream would be a lot harder to achieve, thank you Di.

We are keen to attend an event where we can personally thank everyone for their support and we’ve got our ‘Events Organisers’ working on a ‘Red Carpet’ evening near the completion of our property in September, watch this space!

So until our next ‘Blog’ once again thank you all for your support and generosity

Yours Sincerely,

Charlotte, Kerrie & Nik :)

‘ARF May Blog’

Hi All,
It’s been a busy first month and we thought we would bring you up to date with events and news in helping Abbey Road Friends live their dream: -

Newspaper Celebrities:

The month began with the local newspaper (Bexley Times) interviewing Charlotte’s Mum in relation to highlighting the ‘ARF’ project and our goals.

That’s my Mum and Dad (Charlotte), wait a minute ‘ARF’ are the celebs here where’s our picture?

http://www.bexleytimes.co.uk/search/story.aspx?brand=BXYonline&category=News&itemid=WeED13%20May%202009%2016:37:27:793&tBrand=BXYonline&tCategory=search

Local BBC Tour:
On Friday 8th May our Mum’s and Friends visited a number of local watering establishments; hang on a minute we thought you got bottled water from ASDA? Anyway the adventurers visited a number of local licensees and their customers in Bexley, Belvedere and Crayford.

Due to the local generosity of the licensees and their customers the event raised a total of £521, plus s few hangovers!

Afternoon Tea & Scones:
On Friday 22nd May our friend Sally had 25 family and friends around to her home in Hextable for afternoon tea and assortment of delicious cakes. Kerrie and I attended the event and a great afternoon was had by all. Kerrie was saucy and had a glass of Cava, but don’t tell her Mum!

Due to everyone’s generosity the event raised £385.

Future Events:
The next event is scheduled for 3rd June when 100 ‘ARF’ family and friends will be attending a function at Twins Restaurant in Dartford for a Chinese Banquet, followed by a Barbra Streisand tribute act and disco. The tickets sold-out within 2 weeks of going on sale, people’s support to ’ARF’ is so amazing!

Bexley Crossroads Care Ltd:

We are now pleased to announce that BCCL were the successful service providers who will be providing future care services to ‘ARF’. All parties will be meeting to complete due diligence in the coming months and understand ‘ARF’ care requirements at both home and college.

Abbey Road Property:

The proposed building completion date is now September.

That’s it for now lookout for our next Blog coming at the end of June!

Cheerio'

Charlotte, Kerrie & Nik :)