Venue(s) needed for monthly meeting of new local community group

[Comeback Book Group]

Hi there

Comeback Book Group is a new local initiative aimed at those experiencing, or recovering, from mental illness and seeking to promote better mental health through reading and talking about books.

Once the group is up and running properly, we'd intend to have monthly meetings - either a midweek from say 6:30pm to 8:00pm or Saturday mornings from say 10:30pm to 12:00 noon.

We'd appreciate suggestions for welcoming, quiet, easily-accessible venues in SE22 or SE21 who'd be prepared to host our monthly meetings free of charge (at least until we're a little more established). At this stage it's difficult to predict the turn-out; we expect numbers of between 6 and 12 each month.

Any thoughts? We're in touch with local bookshops with a view to partnering and possibly hosting meetings, so we've covered those bases. However, we'd be very grateful for any other suggestions which we'll follow up in coming weeks.

Very many thanks.

Comeback Book Group

[BrandNewGuy]

You could try the Albrighton Centre:

http://www.albrightoncommunitycentre.org/

[Comeback Book Group]

Not free unfortunately (?60 per hour in the evenings). But thanks for the heads-up.

[ed_pete]

There is a small community hall that's in the former laundry on the "Dutch" estate off East Dulwich Grove. Not sure who you'd need to contact to use it - I imagine there must be a tentants association. It's fairly small but probably big enough for 12 people.

[siousxiesue]

Dulwich Library hall?

[Comeback Book Group]

Tnanks, Pete and Siouxsie... I'll try to track down the right people to contact about the former laundry. Dulwich Library Hall is no go, I'm afraid. ?25 per hour,

[Jennys]

If you could meet at a less popular time maybe a local cafe or pub could accommodate your group free of charge so long as you bought coffee.

[alice]

The green nunhead have a room for ?6

[Pugwash]

Put a written proposal to the Management Committee at the East Dulwich Community Centre. They have a Development Officer who assists new groups and may be able to offer free/discounted rates for the first few sessions to see if the group is viable. Evenings may be better as there are other activities at the centre on Saturdays i.e dance sessions.

The next meeting of the Committee is on 15th January and they can put any written proposal to the Development Officer later that week. Applicants are then invited to meet with the Development Officer and her team in person to discuss possible times/days etc. Please put an email address, as well as correspondence address/phone number on your proposal. The centre's letter box is on the Darrell Road side.

[Comeback Book Group]

Hi Jennys. Thanks for the suggestion. We've been sounding out a number of local indie cafes to see if they'd be prepared to open late to accommodate a monthly meeting of the Group but so far with nil success. I quite understand, to be honest; there's no way that the chance to sell a few extra coffees would offset the cost to the business of staying open for a few extra hours. However if any cafe owners are reading this and would be willing to help us out please let us know.

Hi Alice. The Green Nunhead's ?6 per hour rate seems quite attractive at first sight, but unfortunately there's a ?40 additional charge for caretaking if the booking runs after 6pm. Thanks for flagging it, though.

Hi Pugwash. Thanks for the detailed info. We'll get on to this straightaway.

And thanks to all who have made helpful suggestions so far. Much appreciated.

[redjam]

Quiet corner/room in a pub? Take turns at each other's houses? (Though I realise those options might not be possible depending on the nature of the mental illnesses the members are recovering from...)

[Comeback Book Group]

Thanks, Redjam. Really keen to avoid pubs (own experience of mental illness very much linked to/exacerbated by alcohol so tend to avoid where possible). Also really keen not to host in individual group members' homes; one of the aims of the meetings is to give members an opportunity to socialise outside of the domestic setting. But thanks again for the thoughts. Much appreciated.

[Comeback Book Group]

Thanks to all who have taken the time to respond to this request for help. Much appreciated!

We're now just about to finalise the detailed arrangements for our first run of meetings, thanks to a very generous helping hand from one of our local institutions. All will be revealed once we've crossed the final "t"s. In the meantime, more information about Comeback Book Group can be found at http://www.comebackbookgroup.wordpress.com

Thanks again.