Our Projects
Welcome to the Venture Projects page. These are projects that are apart of us, and that we are proud to continue to support. Through these schemes, we are able to offer help to some of the most vulnerable in the community and offer volunteers and workers important, employable skills.
The Venture Community Association (VCA) was established in 1960 and comprises; the oldest Adventure Playground in UK delivering OFSTED registered children’s services, a purpose-built Steel Panyard and a thriving Community Centre.
The Venture Centre
Welcome to the Venture activities page, we host a wide range of activities at the centre. Some sessions are available for free whilst others have a small cost attached, you can take a look at the timetable below to see what we have on offer or use the drop down menu to find a specific activity.
Community Champions
Community Champions is a long established project that the Venture Centre is excited to bring to Golborne, focusing on the Wornington Green and Swinbrook Estates. This program is headed up by the Community Champions Manager, Wasim Abd-El Aziz. The aim of this project is to achieve a healthy, happy Golborne and we do this by organising social events and delivering health and wellbeing messages to our family, friends and neighbours. We are looking for people like you - that live on the Wornington Green or Swinbrook Estates - who want to excel in health.
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What do you get by becoming a Champion? All our Champions receive lots of training, such as Level 2 Award in Understanding Health Improvement, Safeguarding and Mental Health First Aid. This is also a fantastic opportunity to add to your CV, make new friends and give back to a wonderful community.
As a Champion you can volunteer as little or as much time as you can, there are no special requirements or experience needed!
Your local Community Champion:
Wasim Abd-El Aziz
Hi, my name is Wasim, and I am the Community Champions lead at Venture Centre. Having grown up in West London and attended school with many people from within the community, it allows me to feel a real sense of purpose in the work that I do here at Venture. I work closely with community champions to promote activites, schemes and campaigns that will enhance the health and wellbeing of local residents.
Boot camp Poster
BOXFIT Poster
Pilates Poster
In association with Community Champions.
Click HERE to find out more.
The Playground
Notting Hill Adventure Playground is a play space where children and young people engage by choice. The playground is supervised by play workers who advocate for young people’s right to play.
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Click the button below to go to the playground page to register your children's or find out about opening times and addresses.
Notting Hill Adventure playground is registered with OfSTED (office for standards in education) under the voluntary childcare register. We are funded by the council to deliver open access play provision for children aged 5yrs (in Year 1) to 15 years.
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"Our Playground is an Open Play Provision for North Kensington"
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WHAT IS OPEN ACCESS?
There are three key elements which define 'Open Access':
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Free of charge at the point of entry:
Children and young people are not required to pay to use the playground because play is a fundamental right of all children.
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Free to come and go:
Children must feel the freedom to choose when they want to arrive and leave the playground. No child
should feel confined to the playground.
Free to choose:
In order to assist in the development of self-esteem and confidence, children should be able to choose what activities they wish to be involved in when.
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For more information on our playground, contact on 0208 960 3234 or email: melissa@venturecentre.org.uk
Alternatively, follow the Open Access guidelines.
Glissando Panyard
Glissando Steel Orchestra Panyard is a
musical home for much of the Caribbean community in West London. The Orchestra is recognised as being innovative, talented and highly professional - as well as being a focal point for young people as a place to come together.
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Glissando Steel Orchestra was formed in 1978 by Bertrand Parris. The orchestra first played in a
small self-made shed built by local Caribbean community members. As the band grew community members used their own money to build a small pan yard and this was funded by Bertrand Parris. After this, the Brotherhood of Steel (an organization bringing the 5 steel bands, Glissando, Ebony, Metronome, Mangrove & the London All Stars together) came up with the idea to build the first purpose built steel pan yard in the UK. These bands went together to the council and presented their idea. The council then applied for funding from the European fund to help build
panyards for all 5 steel bands.
Glissandos steel pan yard was built in 1990 and it was the first of the steel pan yard to be built because Glissando already had an established site. The Venture Center then helped Glissando by being the organization that held the funding and managed the legal paperwork for the building. This continued the relationship between Venture and Glissando as they worked together to keep steel pan as a central part of the local community.
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Glissando Steel Orchestra has been in competition with bands such as Ebony, Mangrove,
Metronome and the London All Stars. They have won many coveted awards including the first
GLC capitol Radio Music Festival in 1982, 1983 and 1984. It was the only band to achieve this
distinction. Glissando Steel Orchestras was placed second at the 1997 National Steel bands
Panorama (the largest annual steel pan event in Europe). Throughout these years Glissando had
many sponsors who supported them to compete in competitions and to go ‘on the road’ for
carnaval. These sponsors ranged from organizations such as Virgin, RAF, West Indian CricketClub, Nigeria Tourist Board & Western Union.
Glissando Steel Orchestra
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During 1987, the Glissando Steel Orchestra introduced a community action scheme of touring schools and teaching the art of playing the steelpan. This project was the catalyst that introduced the steelpan to educational establishments in Britain. Glissando Steel Orchestra - in partnerships with local schools - continue to hold Steelpan classes in their pan yard (the first purpose built, sound proofed pan yard in Britain) in North Kensington. Currently band practices happen on;
Adults
Thursday evenings from 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Every sunday from 2:00pm - 5:00pm
(Beginners) Tuesday 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Kids
Thursday evenings from 4:00pm to 5:30pm
Every other Sunday from 12:30pm to 2:00pm
If you have any queries about this please contact Joseph on 07870 905016.
Still in its development stage is the Panyard Trail Workpack. This is a pack produced by the Glissando Steel Orchestra and the African & Caribbean Music Circuit and is designed to enhance and complement conventional Panyard learning. It allows each student to work at their own pace, and consolidates individual manual dexterity and musical knowledge. The Panyard Trail Workpack will be extremely valuable in introducing standardised teaching methods to many panyards throughout the UK.
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Glissando Steel Orchestra Saturday classes are free and are open to all age groups. The highlight of the year for Glissando Steel Orchestra students is to play 'on de road' at the Notting hill Carnival, Europe's biggest Caribbean Release of energy and the world's seconds largest Carnival.
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"A Part of Venture. Always Has Been and Always Will Be!"
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MEMBERS
Glissando Steel Orchestra members consist of players ranging from ages 7-57. The children accompany their parents to rehearsals and nature does the rest! Currently, there are five under twelve's in the Orchestra who are full members. Glissando Steel Orchestra welcome new members like old friends - come and see!
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In May 1998, Glissando Steel Orchestra was invited to Switzerland to perform and present workshops at the Bierfest (Biermensdorf). 30 members (including 9 juniors and 3 chaperones) made the five day trip; for many, this was their second visit. Host and sponsor, Walter Strueli of Strueli Technologies was so impressed that the Orchestra were invited again for 1999.