charity – New in Cambridge

Happy New Year!!

Well, 2018 has dawned in a rather blustery Cambridge but there’s plenty to look forward to in the city this New Year and I will be writing about a lot of it here in the blog.

People have commented to me that there’s always so much going on but it’s hard to keep track of it all, so I’ve decided to create a “What’s On” listing for each month. It’ll show an eclectic mix of events that come to my attention and I’ll update it through the month, so it’ll be worth checking back every so often. And if you’d like to get in touch about an event that could be listed, please do so via my Contact page.

A few foodie thoughts to share for this month ….. if you are giving Veganuary a go, I recommend Stem + Glory, which I profiled in December, for delicious plant based dishes. And please note that The Locker Cafe (see September’s post) is currently closed for a kitchen refit and will reopen on Tuesday 9 January with an expanded weekend brunch menu and live music on Sunday afternoons. Their “Pots for Poverty” sale, which I wrote about in December, raised over £1800 for Jimmy’s Night Shelter and CamCRAG, which is a fabulous achievement. You can find all these posts under Recent Posts or in Archives on the right hand side of this page.

And finally, if your place, like mine, is looking rather dull now that the Christmas decorations are back in the loft, why not nip down to Cambridge Market for some early Spring flowers? These daffodils are from the flower stall opposite Great St Mary’s Church and are grown by the stallholder in Girton. So you can keep it local and remind yourself that Spring is just around the corner!

A Christmas Film Festival with Enchanted Cinema

What could be nicer at this time of year than snuggling up in front of a Christmas movie?? Well, you can do just that at Enchanted Cinema’s Christmas Film Festival which is happening at The Robinson Theatre at Hills Road Sixth Form College this Saturday, 16 December.

Online EC Christmas Poster_A3_flat — Image credit: Enchanted Cinema

The day starts at 10am with Disney’s “Frozen”, after which a real Elsa will be visiting to sing and chat with her young fans. At 1pm, there’s an autism friendly screening of “The Polar Express”, so it’ll offer a relaxed environment with light levels slightly higher than normal and sound levels slightly lower. Then you can sit back and enjoy the antics of everybody’s favourite hapless singleton in “Bridget Jones’s Diary” at 4pm. And finally, at 7pm you can laugh and cry at Richard Curtis’s Christmas classic, “Love Actually”. That lobster costume gets me every time!!

Image credit: Enchanted Cinema

Cambridge residents may be familiar with Enchanted Cinema’s summer outdoor screenings, complete with deckchairs, headphones and street food, at locations in and around the city. Ellen Downes and Will Morrish set up the business in 2015, initially for small social events. Now they bring an enhanced cinema experience to weddings, parties and corporate events with live music, food, decor and lighting alongside the film screening.

For this event, The Robinson Theatre will be transformed into a cosy, festive space and, as well as live music between films, there’ll be a pop up café running all day next to the theatre, serving hot drinks, mulled wine, cakes and brownies, much of which has been given by local businesses. The mince pies are being donated by Radmore Farm Shop, which I wrote about here on the blog in November.

Image credit: EACH

This Festival is a fundraiser for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices which provide care and support for children and young people with life-threatening illnesses as well as end of life care for dying children and their families. All profits from this event will go to the hospice in Milton where, very sadly, Ellen’s sister passed away in May this year. Ellen and her family are so thankful for all the support and care they received from the EACH team over the years and they are raising funds to help ensure that the wonderful work of the hospice continues with other children and families.

Tickets for the Festival are bookable through Enchanted Cinema’s website where you can also buy tickets for their prize draw, which offers loads of awesome prizes. So go on, take a break from the yuletide prep, head for Hills Road, grab a mince pie and settle back to enjoy some Christmas magic from Enchanted Cinema.

www.enchantedcinema.co.uk

Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge CB2 8PE

Firewalk for Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre

Firewalking sounds a little bit hazardous ….. but this act of walking across a bed of hot embers has been practised by many people and cultures all over the world since about 1200BC, mainly as a rite of passage, a test of religious faith or of an individual’s courage and strength. Now Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre is holding a Firewalk on Saturday 28 October – this is their biggest fundraising event of the year and money raised will go to support their vital work.

Fire being raked — Image credit: B.L.A.Z.E

Claire Gardner of Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre tells me that participants find the Firewalk an uplifting experience, feeling elated, even invincible, having walked on hot embers. Friends, family and spectators are all welcome to join in with the celebrations and enjoy the music, entertainment, refreshments and glitter stand while cheering on the brave firewalkers. To take part in the Firewalk, you must be aged over sixteen and you need to register in advance on http://tinyurl.com/crccfirewalk, donate £25 at registration and undertake to raise a minimum of £125 sponsorship.

The Firewalk is run by B.L.A.Z.E, the leading charity firewalking experts who have been running these events in the UK since 1984 so you can be sure that they have the health and safety sorted. B.L.A.Z.E will work with participants in a training session before the event so that everyone is fully prepped for that twenty foot walk across hot embers.

Person firewalking — Image credit: B.L.A.Z.E

Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre offers support to women and girls who have experienced rape, childhood sexual abuse or any other form of sexual violence. It operates a confidential telephone helpline and email support alongside a face-to-face counselling service and an Independent Sexual Violence Advocacy Service to help women navigate the criminal justice system.

CRCC banner — Image credit: Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre

In a week during which a certain Hollywood mogul has barely been out of the news and the #MeToo campaign has gone viral on social media, we have all become more aware of just how widespread sexual harassment and violence are. Please sponsor a firewalker, donate what you can or volunteer your time to keep the work of this amazing organisation going as it offers support to the girls and women of our city.

http://www.cambridgerapecrisis.org.uk

http://www.facebook.com/CambridgeRapeCrisis

This event is being held at Cambridge Women’s Resource Centre, The Wharf, Hooper Street, Cambridge CB1 2NZ