Author:katherinegreen

People collectively making food at a large table in an allotment garden

Clifton, Summerwood Community Garden

The community garden is a beautiful and calm oasis tucked away at the very southerly tip of the estate. It’s on the allotments which were designed as part of the original estate in the 1950s. The community garden is run by Emma and Leo, along with a team of regular volunteers and was set up in 2008. They have a huge array of weekly visits from community groups, social inclusion groups, young offenders and probationary groups, school groups, and parents […]

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Image of person doing a watercolour image

Clifton, Painting Group

The painting club come together once a week at Highbank Community Centre and run by Brian Chambers since he set it up in 2007. They were using a mixture of mediums, gouache, watercolour and pencil and all working on their own subject matter, painting from memory, family photos or magazines. Many of the participants had brought their work in to show me and were very proud of what they had achieved and the improvements they had made over the years. […]

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Clifton All Whites

The Clifton All Whites have been a well-known fixture of Clifton since 1963; they started as a youth team and expanded to include seniors in the 1970s and have had a number of players go on to play at international level. This training session was the under 12’s practicing on the ground next to Farnborough Academy. The team are coached by volunteers, Martin Stafford and Richard Shaw and meet weekly.

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Clifton, Bingo at The British Legion

The British Legion has been a constant central meeting point for Clifton Estate. The legion first began meeting in a wooden hut, until they raised money themselves to build the first permanent building in 1961. Since then, the old building has been extended; it now includes a large hall with a stage, and a couple of bars. They hold social groups, such as the Bingo group pictured here. Many of the people I met and photographed had been coming to […]

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Clifton, Karen Humble

Karen is well known locally as both a childminder and a community activist. Five years ago, she founded a charity and family support group to help local people struggling financially. They coordinate efforts with other local charities, such as the Food Bank at the Hope Centre and via a network of people on Facebook. The charity provides things like a ‘Home Starter Pack’ which will contain a basic full kitchen set up for a new tenant. She’s co-founder of Friends […]

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Woman with crafts laid out in front of her

Clifton, Bethany Wilkins

Bethany has been volunteering since she was 11 years old. At 16 she began volunteering on a scheme to feed the homeless in Nottingham. At Christmas, she rallies the whole of Clifton via social media, and collects over 100 presents for Nottingham’s homeless. She recently tried to set up a baby bank scheme, where people donated toys and clothes, but found that she received so many donations, she didn’t have the space to store it all. She is continually coming […]

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Man in a chip shop wearing an apron and leaning on the counter

Clifton, Menelaos Michaelides

At one time, Mel’s family ran all of the fish and chip shops on the estate. Mel grew up on the estate and went to Farnborough Estate and has many amusing stories from school days – just ask him about the time he faced a Bull in France!

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Clifton, Combat Ju-jitsu

Combat Ju-jitsu is run weekly by charismatic martial arts expert Lucci Del-Gaudio. The sessions, at Highbank Community Centre, are split into child and adult classes, with the youngest attendee I met, being four. The parents I spoke to commented on how much the sport had helped with their children’s self-confidence and self-awareness.   Lucci himself has been practising martial arts for 30 years. He is a three times black belt and Martial Arts Hall of Fame winner; three times British […]

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Clifton, Bingo, The British Legion

The British Legion has been a constant central meeting point for Clifton Estate. The legion first began meeting in a wooden hut, until they raised money themselves to build the first permanent building in 1961. Since then, the old building has been extended; it now includes a large hall with a stage, and a couple of bars. They hold social groups, such as the Bingo group pictured here. Many of the people I met and photographed had been coming to […]

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Woman holding up hand weights

Clifton, KeepFit, Hope Centre

The Keep Fit class at the Hope Centre is led by Joanne, and included around 15 participants, the oldest being 95!

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Please respect the copyright in these images and only use them with my permission - thank you. Katherine