Parsons Green Village keep local tradition going  

This year the Christmas lights on Parsons Green have a new sponsor. Parsons Green Village, a collective of businesses in the area have kindly stepped up to keep this lovely festive tradition going. The opening ceremony will take place on Friday 29 at 5.30pm and it would be fantastic to see a great turn out of locals joining in for the occasion. St Dionis Church are supporting the event with the Salvation Army Brass Band and singers starting the festivities with carols, words provided for those who would like to sing along! Mulled wine and hot chocolate will be served and raffle tickets are for sale giving those purchasing the opportunity to win some fabulous prizes all donated by Parsons Green Village businesses. All proceeds from the raffle and refreshment sales will go to The Glass Door Homeless Charity which is based in Parsons Green. At 6pm there will be a few words from the new vicar at St Dionis, Rev William Rogers before the lights are officially switched on.

Urban Village LDN talked to Pat Barnett from Koji "The Parsons Green Village businesses are delighted to be the sponsors of the Christmas lights for the first time this year,  we love our local community and are very thankful for all their support. We would very much like to become more involved with traditional community events in our area. The businesses would also like to say a huge thank you to Mr. Resistor for originally donating the lights and to St Matthews & St Dionis churches for hosting this lovely event. We are all looking forward to building on this event and making it bigger and more fun for years to come".

Parsons Green Village are a non profit group that aim to bring together business and community representatives in the New Kings Road, Parsons Green area and enact a range of focused improvements to the area for the benefit of local businesses and the community. You can find out more on the link below.

Frailty Focus Group

We heard from Tabby Fistein who is the Frailty Care Coordinator for the South Fulham Primary Care. Tabby told Urban Village LDN about a series of frailty focus groups they are running.

They would like to invite carers or anyone 65 years or older living in the borough of Hammersmith & Fulham who are finding day to day activities more difficult than they used to. If you or someone you know would be interested in participating in this group discussion to share your experiences of health care for older adults who need more support, you can get in touch by emailing tabitha.fistein@nhs.net or calling 07480 185526. Tabby said “we would like to understand H&F residents experiences of accessing and using health and social care services in Hammersmith and Fulham, such as your GP, hospital, community care, community groups, support at home and any other services that are important to your health and wellbeing”.

A survey a few months ago asked older people in the area about their experience of health and social care in the borough. South Fulham Primary Care identified recurring themes in the responses which showed where local older people would like to see improvements in their care and they are now looking to carry out changes in those areas. Tabby told us “It is important to us that we ensure that those with lived experience feed into these solutions, and so we are running these focus groups with older people living with frailty and / or their carers to discuss some proposed improvements and take suggestions”.

There are multiple opportunities for older residents to participate: dates this month are Thursday 7 (3:00 to 4:00pm) Sycamore House, Hammersmith United Charities and Tuesday 12 (3:00 to 4:00pm): Action on Disability Centre for Independent Living, alternatively you can attend virtually.


Fulham Chronicles: the podcast for SW6

Catch this podcast all about our urban village on YouTube or listen on Apple and Spotify. Latest guests in the studio at VOXPOD Studios at Heathman’s Road are Thomas Lester, Fulham resident , founder and managing director of Reverend Hubert a gin liqueur brand born in SW6. Listen to the story of how this brand started with a cherry tree in a Fulham garden, led to the unearthing of some fascination family history, a recipe from 1904 and stockists including Fortnum and Mason. Head to YouTube to find a 10% off discount code and stock up for Christmas!

Torty Hutton is the first born in Fulham guest, hence the episode title “Once a Fulham girl, always a Fulham girl”. Torty is an advanced crystal practitioner and Reki master who was born in Fulham and practices vibrational medicine in SW6. After navigating issues that affected her family, she went from teacher to crystal practitioner. Tune in to hear her deeply personal story and how the power of crystal therapy can help you recharge and reset.