Hackney’s FREE social club
for everyone over 65+yrs
- Full arts, health and wellbeing activity programme
- From September to December 2022 our weekly Tues sessions will include Pilates with Adina and singing with Joanna Foster/Hackney Voices Community Choir
- Nutritious home-cooked lunch
- Door-to-door transport provided
- Fully wheelchair accessible
Every Tuesday morning from 11 January 2022 | 10.00am – 1.00pm. FREE to Hackney residents over 65 years of age. Just drop in or give us a call at 0208 533 0227/ email us at projects@chatspalace.com
Chats Palace is an arts centre with a civic role, empowering local people. The Palace Club is a core element of our programme that reaches out to help Hackney’s older residents play an active part in their community.
According to Age UK, more than 2 million people in England aged 75+ live alone, and more than a million older people say they go for over a month without speaking to friends, neighbors, or family. From short-term benefits around the enjoyment of a shared social event, we have shaped The Palace Club to assist its members in becoming more active.
As their club membership progresses, we hope everyone will feel more visible and cared for, that feeling of isolation and abandonment will shrink and disappear. By supporting our elders to gain back their voices, we will hold them close in the heart of our community and encourage everyone to keep their independence and positivity for longer.
We launched The Palace Club in October 2018 and have been gratified by the impact it has already had and the numbers of local people who have already joined. With new funding from LLDC Neighborhood Priorities Fund, we now have secure funding to run the club through to March 2023. If you know someone over 65yrs who would enjoy arts-based activities or you are over 65yrs yourself, please get in touch.
The Palace (Book) Club
Reading for pleasure is a globally recognised indicator in a huge range of social issues from poverty to mental health, yet in England, 36% of people don’t regularly read (DCMS, 2015). We launched the Palace Book Club in 2020 when the joy of reading a book as a means of escape was something many people across the UK shared.
Reading a book was wonderful, but how much more enjoyable to meet with friends to recommend, share thoughts and read out loud. Our digital programme included the first two meetings of the Palace Book Club. Now that restrictions have been lifted we can meet in person – and thanks to our funder, London Legacy Development Corporation and our bookshop partner Pages of Hackney, we have a limited number of free copies of each book to offer to Club members.
Tues 15 February Mother Country
This week we read Mother Country. Real Stories of the Windrush Children, Edited by Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff.
An anthology of stories from the Windrush Generation, spanning 70 years to the present day. Read a review here.
With guest speakers Kenrick Hanson JP and Patrick Vernon
Caribbean lunch menu cooked by Sunlight Caribbean Restaurant, Well St, E9
Today we took a break from the usual format of our Palace Club, launching the first in-person meeting of the Palace Book Club. This week’s book, Mother Country, provided a great gateway into discussions around Windrush, collective and individual identities and the ever-changing landscape of the city.
We were especially grateful to our guest speakers Kenrick Hanson and Patrick Vernon who coloured our discussions with insight, observations and humour. The delicious lunch that followed, provided by Sunlight Caribbean Restaurant, was a great way to end the day!
You can purchase your copy of Mother Country from our bookshop partner Pages of Hackney, 70 Lower Clapton Rd, E5 0RN.
Listen to what the Palace Club members think about their club:
The Palace Club Evaluation Short Films
Anti Scam campaign
In April /May 2021 Palace Club members took part in an awareness campaign on the many scams being directed at older people.
Working with filmmaker Tristan Bell, they made three info-clips, encouraging each of us to be on the alert.
Please share amongst your family and friends and let’s keep these scammers out of our lives and community.