Autumn Newsletter 2023
Hello again, friends old and new
Hello again, friends old and new, the summer has gone and I'm sure like the rest of us are lamenting its departure, but autumn brings a wonderful colour palette, and several exciting events so hopefully we can enjoy it together. It’s been an eventful summer for us all here, with loads of interesting bits behind the scenes, a summer party like first aid training, successful funding bids and lots more we will talk about later.
First and foremost we are hiring!
Join The Team
It's been over a year since we last broadened the team. We have decided it's time to again, as some people are leaving for new opportunities in the new year, but we also have the capacity to expand our team. Kitty’s prides itselves on our co-operative nature and existence, and are looking for two or more people to join us! Please read the poster above, and if what we do appeals to you, come down to one of our open days this week and chat with the team. We all would love to answer any questions you have and share what makes Kitty’s such a special place to work. Please click here for a link to the application
Open day this week are:
Sat 21st October 9am-12pm
Helping Our Community
With winter approaching the worries of putting on the heating, making sure clothes are dry and other general soaring costs of living are playing heavily on people's minds. The office of national statistics has found that Almost half (47%) of adults in Great Britain are using less fuel such as gas or electricity in their homes because of the rising cost of living which paired with the fact, that people who who pay energy bills, around 4 in 10 (43%) reported that they were very or somewhat difficult to afford.
The Guardian ran an article recently that stated Seventy-two percent of school staff think there has been an increase in hygiene poverty in their school in the last year, according to a poll of 500 school staff, as a part of the community we are doing our best to help with this, as this is something we are uniquely suited to combat.
What can we do to help this, well the answer is two fold, firstly we will be a warm hub through the upcoming months, a warm hub can be defined as a friendly place for all members of the community, somewhere warm where people can go to enjoy the company of others. There will always be a friendly face and warm drink waiting for you at Kitty’s, so never hesitate to pop down. Secondly, through our free washing vouchers scheme,. This has been done through grants, donations and various other sources and we are massively grateful for it. Part of the awards for all schemes we mentioned earlier would be spent towards this, again if you or anyone you know may need assistance like this please don't hesitate to pop down, call or even email us for more details.
Social Enterprise Awards
Kitty's has been shortlisted for two categories in this year's Social Enterprise UK Awards - Environmental Social Enterprise of the year, and Community-Based Social Enterprise awards. These awards recognise sector-leading excellence and innovation across a diverse range of criteria, so this recognition means a great deal to us. We are really delighted to have been shortlisted and are currently trying to arrange for the whole team to attend the award ceremony in London on the 30th of November to celebrate all their hard work!
Kitty's Launderette Summer Party
The summer party has been and gone and it was wonderful, thank you to everyone who managed to make it down. Seeing the customers, supporters and friends who have over the past four years have made Kitty’s the special place it is was fantastic. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so here's some beautiful pictures of that day.
First Aid Training
This summer the team embarked on a series of training days, led by the talented Ste, he wrangled us through several sessions of Fire Safety and Health and Safety training. All of the team then completed 3 days of First Aid training to become qualified to Level 3. We learnt about CPR, recovery positions, types of allergic reactions and much more. As many of you will know a safe workplace is a healthy workplace, and the ability to recognise and correct issues formed the core of our Health and Safety training that we all passed with flying colours. As you can see below, the ever patient Ste instructs Anthony in the different forms of slings.
Local Talks
In July we received the great news that we had been awarded funded from National Lottery awards for all. This funding will allows us to enrich our events and activities programme with input from the customer survey conducted earlier this year being at the heart of the bid.
The project “Creating Connections at Kitty’s” kicked off early September with a screening of “My Beautiful Launderette” and a Jewellery making workshop with artist Victoria Opom (VA Studio).
We’re also now half way through our local history series of talks/workshops with John Ashton and Greig Campbell both delivering fascinating talks in their respective fields.
Upcoming Events
If you’re yet to make it along to one of our events in the programme not to worry as we have loads coming up over the next month and beyond.
Thursday 19th October sees us host the Monthly People of Anfield writers workshop with facilitator and poet Pauline Rowe. The project commissioned by the open eye aims to capture the stories of those living in Anfield and the group is working towards creating an exhibition in 2024.
Every Monday from 10am-12pm In need of a woolly jumper this winter? Why not make your own with the help of our weekly Knitting at Kitty’s group that takes place.. The group is open to all abilities and with the help of our resident expert knitters you’re sure to learn a lot.
Wednesday 25th October The Spirit of Liverpool will be hosting the first of two local history sessions that will focus on the importance of archive footage in capturing tales from the past. Monika and Michael will introduce you to a range of ways to access archives as well as how you can use your own home videos too piece together your own personal histories.
Saturday 28th October Homebaked CLT are hosting their seasonal market at the All Saints Parish Centre. There will be stalls from local makers as well as a range of free activities for all the family.
Wednesday 1st November we will be hosting two shadow puppetry workshops (AM session and PM Session) with Arts Groupie CIC. Like all our events it's free to attend but due to limited capacity we’re asking that all attendees book their place via eventbrite.
Friday 10th November is our monthly film Fridays screening. This month we are collaborating with local charity Asylum Link. Our film screenings aim to highlight the work of local organisations who are doing great work in the city by allowing them to choose a film they feel reflects their message.
As you can see we have a jam packed calendar of events and activities coming up and you can find out more at our eventbrite link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/kittys-launderette-39931446083
Keep an eye out for further events and activity announcements on our social media.
