For the second consecutive year, we ran our #MerryMerton social media campaign to celebrate all of the great things that happened in Merton in 2019! If you didn’t manage to keep up with our posts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook throughout December, fear not because we’ve included all of our posts below.
Day 1 marked the start of #MertonGivingWeek 2019! Merton Giving encourages people & businesses to give money, time or in-kind support so that their fund can support charities working locally to better the lives of Merton residents. Get involved and read more at https://wimbledoncommunity.org/merton-giving-week-2019
Day 2 celebrated the launch of Merton’s first Community Fridge – a big fridge where individuals and businesses can donate fresh edible food for members of the community to take what they want or need 🍇 Get involved and read more at https://wimbledoncommunity.org/blog/mertons-first-community-fridge-one-donation-twice-the-impact/
Additionally, the borough’s leading environmental charity, Sustainable Merton joined The Big Give Christmas Challenge meaning that donations made via TheBigGive.org.uk from 3rd – 10th December were doubled and had twice the impact. #GivingTuesday
Day 3 was a celebration of live music within the London Borough of Merton. 🎼 From the annual Wimbledon International Music Festival to the Classical Guitar Concert series at St Saviour’s Church, there was so much live music to enjoy on our doorsteps throughout the year. In Novermber, we also caught up with the Wimbledon International Music Festival Director Anthony Wilkinson for another edition of our #WimblecommSpotlight series. Find out more about the festival and why it is so important to our community at https://wimbledoncommunity.org/blog/wimblecomm-spotlight-wimbledon-international-music-festival
Day 4 looked forward to the return of #FunkyFriday. As we dressed in our funkiest outfits & most glam accessories, we donated to Merton Giving who aim to tackle inequality across Merton all year round. Read more on how you can get involved at https://wimbledoncommunity.org/merton-giving-week-2019
Day 5 celebrated 100 years of council housing at the Trinity Christmas Tree Festival 🎄 Once again we sponsored a tree to raise funds for London’s Air Ambulance and partake in this wonderful annual event. Visit our blog on this to pick up a fact or two!
Day 6 marked the final Tuned In event of 2019 at
Merton Arts Space! Almost every week, Merton Libraries worked with Jah Wobble & several other organisations to give people the chance to come together, play musical instruments, & exercise for free!
Merton Council worked in partnership with AFC Wimbledon, Fulham FC Official, One You Merton and GLL UK to provide these sessions with the main focus being directed musical ‘jam’ sessions that people could get involved with no matter their ability. Join them on a Monday Evening at Wimbledon’s Merton Arts Space. 🥁
Day 7 celebrated Human Rights Day 2019 – something which is relevant to us all, every day. 💞
On our Community Hub Wimblecomm, we connect the people of Merton through places & their passions so that we can unite & work together to make a difference!
For us at Wimblecomm/WCA, the differences that we make include helping community venues to stay open by promoting their spaces for hire, supporting great local initiatives that benefit our Merton community, or simply spreading the word on local events so that people can get involved as they wish.
Day 8 celebrated Merton Libraries for transforming all 7 of their children’s libraries into fully inclusive multisensory environments for all children to enjoy & benefit from, including those with special educational needs & disabilities (SEND). Each library has a unique sensory theme such as Space, Under the Sea, Weather, Arctic, Forest, Circus and Jungle so there’s no time like the present to go & explore!
From January 2020, a range of events & activities for SEND children will take place at each library. For more information on Merton’s Sensory Libraries, go to www.merton.gov.uk/libraries
Day 9 – As many of us choose to let our voices be heard during the UK Election, we wanted to celebrate and reflect on the achievements of a particular set of voices from Merton – The Wimbledon Choral Society 🎼 We looked back to the Wimbledon Choral Society’s extraordinary journey which saw them take to the Royal Festival Hall stage to perform the Da Vinci Requiem by celebrated British composer Cecilia McDowall.
In our exclusive ‘Leading Up To The Da Vinci Requiem’ blog series, we got behind the scenes of the first large-scale work that Wimbledon Choral Society has ever commissioned, & then later featured Kathie Arundell’s glowing review of the world premiere!
Day 10 celebrated our borough’s efforts to take better care of the planet. In 2019, the London Borough of Merton came joint 2nd in London, & among the top authorities across the country, for its climate change action recognised by Friends of the Earth! We even made it onto BBC News for substituting our annual bonfire for a light show delivered by Flame Oz. Let’s keep doing what we can to improve our borough and beyond, and tackle climate change. 🌳
Day 11 reflected on Merton Arts Festival 2019 as it celebrated its 9th year anniversary! Moving forward, the festival aims to create art hubs across Merton to build stronger art communities for artists.
Read more about the festival and find out how to get involved via our Wimblecomm Spotlight with the team 🎨 #DiscoverArtDiscoverMerton
Day 12 shared information on how you & those around you can stay warm & well during the colder weather. 🧣🧤 Visit our blog to see how The Warm & Well in Merton campaign sees Merton Council partner with Wimbledon Guild, Age UK Merton and Thinking Works to support you this Winter.
Day 13 was all about books & Wimbledon BookFest! Ahead of this year’s 10 Magical Days on the Common, we caught up with the Festival Director Fiona to learn about the magic behind the festival, what it means to our borough, & its ongoing success! Although a lot of emphasis is put on those 10 days on the Common, there is so much work that this not for profit organisation do, so have a read of our Wimblecomm Spotlight with them, keep an eye on their website, & keep enjoying books!
Day 14 was keeping things Fayre & Square! Located upstairs in Centre Court Shopping Centre, this small gift shop is an independent community project where you can get hold of unique handmade items made by local artists, some of which can be personalised! As well as being great for gifting, it is run by volunteers, & has it’s own employability scheme that supports individuals with any perceived barriers to employment, including physical disabilities, learning difficulties, mental health challenges, or language & confidence issues! If you’re looking for something special to gift why not check out Fayre and Square and read more about them as part of our Wimblecomm Spotlight series.
Day 15 celebrated International Human Solidarity Day 🌎 As we celebrated unity in diversity at a global level, we considered how we celebrate unity in diversity in our borough of #Merton through our online Community Hub Wimblecomm.
To unite our borough one step at a time, we…
– Invite all not-for-profit organisations in Merton to list their spaces for hire on our Directory for free
– Welcome them to add their venue’s events to our Events Calendar 📅
– And we publish blogs & a newsletter to celebrate Merton! 📰
Join and contribute to our Wimblecomm community today by visiting us at https://wimbledoncommunity.org and spreading the word!
Day 16 was a reminder that you didn’t need to be alone this Christmas! On our blog, we listed 3 places across the London Borough of Merton (Vestry Hall, The Alexandra Pub in Wimbledon & Sacred Heart Church, Wimbledon) that you could have gone to if you were alone on Christmas Day!
Day 17 wished you a Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year! Thank you to all our venue/user members, partners, friends, & anyone who has visited Wimblecomm – our online community hub for Merton!
P.S. Thanks to Commonside Trust & Mike’s Donkeys for this picture.
Day 18 celebrated Film Merton who have brought free cinema into our community to educate, entertain & inspire us. The free films will continue in 2020 with a fantastic programme exploring Black love on screen & a celebration of LGBT+ history. See more information and the full programme here.
Day 19 celebrated Everyday Church Wimbledon who have shared some of their 2019 highlights showing where they’ve had a positive impact in our local community. Click here to read about the passing of Natasha’s Law, their Vintage 65+Tea Parties & much more.
Day 20 celebrated the Commonside Trust for all of the work that they do in our Merton community! On our Wimblecomm blog, they give us a whistle stop tour of some of the good things that they made happen in 2019. Impressively, in October, their Pollards PASS Kicks Programme was filmed by a Premier League Football film crew & a video clip promoting the Kicks Programme featured ‘their boys’ as well as other young people from around England! Click here to see it for yourself.
Day 21 celebrated Avye Couloute, a young girl from Merton who runs her own Girls into Coding events & has already started making waves in the world of STEM. This year she received The Diana Award and the prestigious Legacy Award, and we are so excited to see what’s coming next! You can find out more about Avye, her achievements thus far, Girls into Coding etc on her website ‘10 To No Limit.’ As we step into a new year & decade, may we all be inspired by the works of Avye & continue to celebrate one another’s greatness.
If you or your venue weren’t included this time around but you still have some good news to share, send an email to general@wimbledoncommunity.org with your stories, and we will be happy to feature you on our blog or in our Wimblecomm Spotlight series.
Written by Genevieve Etienne-Farrell
