Community Craft

KNITTING - SEWING - CROSS STITCH - HABERDASHERY & MORE!

Little Sew n' Sews

307 High Street

Epping

Essex, CM16 4DA

Tel: 01992 570859

Much More Than A Knitting Shop...

... It's A Part Of The Community!

Open Mon - Sat 9am to 5pm

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What a great shame and a waste of a super old building...

As you can see the old school is boarded up and looking very sorry for itself. It would make a great Community Craft Centre dedicated to crafts and cultural activities supported by Global Ambassador www.global-ambassador.org

Our proposal is simply to manage the site and hand over all proceeds to the Council who would still retain ownership of the building.

It's a win-win situation!

Could this be a great venue for the...

Epping Forest

Community Craft Centre?

Dedicated to Crafts and Cultural Development...

Get behind us and help make it happen!

Our objective is to encourage community spirit and integration through a shared interest in creative arts and crafts. On top of that we would like to present dance and singing activities that will help encourage participation in music on all levels. Maybe even starting a new Epping Brass Band or Choir, creating an Historical Tapestry to celebrate the town, establish an Epping Morris Dancing Club, return the fun of the May Pole, perhaps even start a local Tug of War Team... There is so much we can do from this venue above and beyond providing an opportunity for small business workshops and classes that will help establish Epping as an international example of community spirit and cultural strength.

Help us make it happen by getting involved. Establishing such a Community asset will guarantee many benefits to the community and make Epping an even better place to live and an example to the World!

Write to us, the local Press and the Council to let your opinion be known... Together we can build something of real value for our town!

Professional Crafters Please Note!

If we are successful in our efforts to open such a facility in Epping, we will be looking for Craft Professionals

to open businesses in the form of a creative / class environment.

If you would like more information or to be considered for participation in the project please email Trevor Krueger here:

Epping Forest Community Craft and Culture Centre...?

Help us turn this great idea into a much needed reality

We have many ideas and plans for our centre and we're discovering new ideas from our supporters all the time. Until the weekend of the 8th January 2012 I had never heard of "Molly Dancing" as another version of "Morris Dancing" so I looked it up and discovered a great enthusiasm for it. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I have and especially hope it inspires you to think about the wide variety of great fun we can have at the Community Craft and Culture Centre - Trevor...

Ouse Washes Molly Day of Dance

The Ouse Washes Molly Day of Dance is an annual event, around the original molly dancing villages in the Ely area of Cambridgeshire. It was started by Ouse Washes Molly in 1999, when the Whittlesey festival decided to reduce the number of teams attending. Many of the teams dropped were molly dance teams so a mid-winter day was arranged to specifically visit the molly places, particularly Little Downham, to give those friends, and others, the opportunity to dance in the historic places at the right time of year.

In 2009, 9 molly dance sides attended providing a mix of traditional and modern molly dance styles. See this YouTube clip for highlights from 2009:

The Ouse Washes day of dance will be held on January 21st 2012.

Above text discovered at the excellent: www.mollydancing.com

Please pay the site a visit and learn more!

Overview in Brief

Epping and its adjacent forest area are renowned across the country and recognised for their significant immediate and surrounding area history. As recent as in living memory, the town provided a credible livestock market serving local farmers and the community. My own father would often drive cattle along the roads from Ongar to market.

We have long enjoyed a history of rural life and farming yet little is done to celebrate this or maintain traditions, skills or crafts that would have played an important part in local family day to day living and enterprise across the decades.

It is my concern that modern day living, the danger of gradual family withdrawal from community activities, an ever growing reliance on technology for communications etc, will contribute towards all generations missing out on important community integration and shared learning and fun activities. While sport and religion still play an important role, activities involving craft or creativity are somewhat neglected or inaccessible to the majority of the community.

My proposal is to establish a central facility that encourages community activities and the shared learning of traditional skills, ensuring such skills; crafts and communication are kept alive. Handed down from the elders and passed on to our children, capitalising on the opportunity of access to experienced firsthand knowledge before it is lost.

A Community Craft & Cultural Centre will enable everyone to discover and learn a whole range of skills and crafts together. Apart from providing quality learning experiences it will also encourage trades and skills to be reintroduced into daily lives and thus establish Epping as an example of a town dedicated to maintaining both community and heritage.

It is strongly anticipated that such a facility will not only appeal to local residents but will attract visitors from as far away as Cambridge and across London.

Epping has an opportunity to establish a really important initiative that many will applaud and seek to emulate. This will be an asset to the town, our families and a lift for the kudos of the entire area.

Proposed Activities

This information seeks only to introduce the proposal and secure the positive support of the local authority. It lists examples of possible activities being considered. However, options are endless and will essentially be dictated by public demand and availability. Some events / attractions will be based at the centre but pursued, when necessary, off site and in other towns as local community ambassadors.

Painting

Photography

Flower Arranging

Gardening

BeautyCare

Parenting

Candle Making

Millinery

Upholstering

Dress Making

Knitting & Crochet

Needlecraft

Town Tapestry

Town Band

Town Morris Team

Town Choir

Town Molly Team

Cookery

Creative Writing

Decorating

Interior Design

Topiary

Animal Care

Drama

Dog Training

Cycle Proficiency

Air Cadets

Bowls

Annual Concert

Annual Pantomime Annual Bazaar

Craft Events Keep Fit

Yoga

Dancing

May Pageant

Country Dancing

Multi Cultural Events Meetings

Lectures Additional Tuition

Child Care*

Tai Chi

Volunteers

Music Lessons

Centre canteen*

Glass Painting

Jewellery

Leather Working

Beading

Stained Glass

Wine Club

Pyrography

•

Child Care – It is intended that a permanent facility operates at the centre, offering crèche facilities for those attending classes, pre and post school clubs for working parents, delivery and collection from school (Junior Level) etc.

•

Canteen – We believe the canteen could be part of the cooking class activity and double up as a practical catering experience and independent tutor business. Whether serving teas and coffees, crisps and biscuits or home baked bread and cakes, it will certainly please customers and students alike.

NB: In order for the centre to function at maximum efficiency we would require access to all buildings and playgrounds currently featured within the existing boundary.

Benefits to the Community

The Community Craft and Culture Centre should represent the heart of the community, from a point of meeting, learning, assisting each other and extended family care. Everyone should stand to benefit in some way from the centres existence, from children being walked to and from school, to elderly /disabled people securing help from volunteers with decorating or garden maintenance.

We should be the oil for the towns’ wheel, the place to come to first for any family need outside of regular Schooling and established Council, National Health or Welfare services. We will adopt an extended family attitude providing welcome and support as well as standalone activities.

Partnership Arrangement

Our first objective is to do all we can to assist the establishment of the facility within the available land and buildings at the former Junior School Site in St. John’s Road, in preference to commercial development for retail or residential use.

However, we would welcome an opportunity to run the facility as freelance managers, controlling the creation, marketing and development of all facilities. We would handle all applications for courses, security, personnel vetting, financial management and recourse to the local authority, as well as running the centre website.

All income generated would be handed on to the authority subject to allowances for staff and management remuneration.

Time Frame

We would be happy to begin work on the project at the earliest opportunity subject to approval and availability of the site.

Considerations for Funding

It has always been our intention to make the best possible use of the site to both generate income for the facility and ensure overheads are kept to a minimum.

To this end we had envisaged operating the site as a partial enterprise zone. We would invite small crafting companies, to set-up business in individual classrooms, at a set rental. Part of their agreement would be to provide the set classes for paying clients. They would be allowed to feature their products for sale on a shared website and benefit from regular market events within the grounds of the centre.

We could bring back the Maypole...

but can we do it better?!

We could bring back the Town Crier...

but can we do it better?!

We could bring back the Town Festival...

but can we do it better?!

Video Ideas Below

Check Them Out!

WEB POLE Below

The Results!

In light of the Councillors encouragement to start building community classes... we are proud to invite you to join The Carefree Crew... Click on the dancing heart to find a great way to fitness!

Present a Course

Click on the High Street to reach David Jackman at;

Everything Epping Forest and tell him your views on our plans for a Community Craft & Culture Centre for Epping

WEB POLL RESULTS

23rd April 2012

Today was the close of the public consultancy by the Local Authority. We concluded this stage of our campaign with a residents march against the proposed Supermarket development.

The results of the Web Poll on this site was overwhelmingly supportive

Thank You!

88%

In Favour of a Community Facility

Just

12%

Would prefer Housing or a Store

Everything Epping Forest 24.04.12

"ABOUT 100 people braved heavy rain to march along Epping High Street to present a petition opposing the retail option which formed part of the St John's Road consultation.

The district council's consultation over the future use of the former Centrepoint site and neighbouring land ended today.

Placards bearing the messages 'Epping Needs A Heart', 'Super Town Not Super Market' and 'Shelve the Super Market' were carried by the marchers who set off from the Centrepoint building in St John's Road to present the 600-name petition to Epping Forest District Council.

Protesters at the Centrepoint building which is at the heart of possible development plans for Epping.

Residents made their way to the Civic Offices to hand over the petition opposing the supermarket option for the St John's Road site

Epping Forest Guardian: 24.04.12

Trevor Krueger, 52, runs Little Sew n’ Sews in Epping High Street with his family. He said: ““We have all come here tonight to make sure that they listen to us.

“Epping is a great town but it does not have a community hub. We want a place to take classes and for people to gather, a proper community centre.”

Julie Hayden, 36, who lives in nearby Lindsey Street, agreed.

She said: “What Epping needs are more community and more leisure facilities.”

“We are just worried that they want to make as much money for the site as they can,” added Allan Jones, 77, of St John’s Road.