

SAD NEWS
Sadly we have had to close our lovely shop in Wimbledon as the new owners of Centre Court won't renew our lease. So we are desperately looking for a new venue. Until then it is a shame as it will mean that we cannot continue with our employability project till we find new premises.
"Fayre and Square" is a fabulous Community Project run by volunteers and stallholders to help support young adults with special needs, disability or mental health issues into employment. The learners come in for an 8 week course to learn how to work in a shop, serve customers, use a till and credit card machine and generally help out in the shop. The shop is full of handmade gifts made by local independent artisans to showcase and sell their products to the public. I'm proud to say that Creative Stitching is part of this wonderful project and many of my products are for sale in the shop.
Many young volunteers have completed placements at "Fayre and Square", the majority progressing on to further training or volunteering and many moving on from the project into paid employment. My own son has taken part in this project and has learnt many valuable work skills and is now in paid employment.
The Team at "Fayre and Square" have won a Gold Award for Employee Volunteering of the Year 2019 from Merton Partnership and also been shortlisted for the Merton Business Awards 2019.
We now have a lovely new website www.fayresquarewimbledon.org which explains a lot about the concept of the project and a chance to meet the artisans.



