What's Happening at The Meeting Room?
Fundraising events
​Like any charity, we need funds to operate, and so are incredibly inspired and grateful for the fundraising efforts of all our supporters.
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In 2025 we have two huge events happening in aid of The Meeting Room.
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Carol Rossell is taking on an incredible challenge — walking over 1200 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End in memory of her dad Jonny and her nan Linda, to raise money for The Meeting Room. Her dad was a client of The Meeting Room and she is the niece of Harriet, one of our trustees.
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You can read updates about her training, view her progress on Strava and donate to a fantastic effort at: https://www.justgiving.com/page/carol-rossell-1.
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In more sporty news, George Edgley (Harriet's son) is taking part in his first ever charity boxing match on 8th May 2025 at The Steel Yard, London.
There will be over 500 people attending, with live auctions, white collar and semi-pro bouts.
Tickets are now on sale at: https://dice.fm/partner/the-steel-yard/event.
If you would like to donate, please reference ‘George Boxing’ on: https://www.justgiving.com/themeetingroom.
Good luck, George!
2024 activities
​Walton Firs Activity Centre - In November, a group of staff and clients headed off for an overnight stay at Walton Firs Activity Centre in Cobham. They tried archery, climbing and heaps of other activities. Ah, I can still smell the campfire.......
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Pantomine at Leatherhead Theatre - Who doesn't like a pantomine (our Head of Client Support, Lisa, certainly does!)? Dick Wickington came to town, and took a group of over twenty clients to have a wonderful time - oh yes, we did!
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Christmas Day Lunch & Christmas Party - Christmas is always a very special time of year for us and 2024 was no exception. We partnered with Leatherhead Community Hub to host a Christmas Day lunch for 45 people at their site in North Leatherhead and put on a full Christmas spread with all the trimmings!
We love it when so many of our clients, supporters, volunteers and staff come together to celebrate the season and all we do at The Meeting Room. On December 16, we had our annual Christmas Party at the Leatherhead Football Club.
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Here are some of things that have been happening recently.
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Visit of Helen Maguire, MP - On Oct 21, we were very happy to welcome our local Member of Parliament, Helen Maguire, to our lunchtime drop-in in Leatherhead. She spoke with trustees and staff discussing all of the different aspects of what we do and also, she spent time with our clients. We look forward to working with Helen in better serving our local community.
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Visit to Kew Gardens - A group of 17 clients has a wonderful day at Kew Gardens including several with restricted mobility. Thank you to Vera and Farroakh Parekh for kindly donating the tickets to allow this event to take place.
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Barge Trip - The Meeting Room barge trips are well-known for a being a great laugh and a lot of fun. In early September, 10 clients and 2 of our staff went to take in the canals of north London & Middlesex and went camping out for two nights. The weather was fantastic and a great time was had by all. The remembrance of the recent passing of two of our most beloved clients, Robin and Darren, made this trip even more special.
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Jo Sherring - On September 2, our dear friend and former colleague, Jo Sherring came to talk to our clients about the work she is now doing with refugees in our community. Jo gave us real insight into the situations she has experienced with refugees coming to the UK. She also spoke about the common misconceptions and disinformation that are spread about refugees in our country. It was wonderful to hear about the work that she and her team are carrying out in the local area and we thank Jo for giving us her time and highlighting her passion for helping those most in need.
Volunteers - it's been wonderful to see new people getting involved with The Meeting Room and all our activities. Recently, we've had several new volunteers help out with everything from preparing food, being a friendly ear at the drop-ins, distributing items, and helping with some of the charity admin. Their work is so important and we are hugely grateful for their input.
Previous events
Our regular activities - as well as our regular lunchtime drop-ins, we have our monthly walks in the beautiful countryside of the Surrey Hills, fortnightly table tennis and various crafting activities - making Christmas cards and decoriations is a current favourite.
Walks - Our regular schedule of walks generally take place on the first Saturday of every month. These are so important for our clients who need a change of scene, some exercise in the countryside and most importantly are a fun, safe, and social space to be with others.
Table tennis - For our other regular activities, we're delighted to have restarted our regular table tennis sessions which happen every other Wednesday from 2.30pm-4.30pm at the Leatherhead Leisure Centre. This is open to anyone and we're always thrilled to see new faces.
Craft sessions - A big shout-out to our two amazing volunteers, Emma and Lynn, who showed us all how to make beautiful things at our Monday drop-in in Leatherhead. Ceramic tiles, printed tee-shirts, birthday and Christmas cards are just a few of things we have been making over the past few months.
