We are now taking bookings for the Playscheme in February – starting Monday 13th Feb to Friday 17th Feb 2012.

Timetable of activities
Monday 13th Feb
Morning – Martial Arts and Art Attack
Afternoon – Outdoor Multi-sports with London Youth coack

Tuesday 14th Feb
All day trip to Drusilla´s Theme Park. Leaving at 9:30 am and returning at 5pm

Wednesday 15th Feb
Morning – Martial Arts, Valentine Bingo
Afternoon – Cinema (offsite)

Thursday 16th Feb
Morning – Start of talent show auditions and free play
Afternoon – Games and quizzes for prizes

Friday 17th Feb
Morning – Martial Arts, talent show auditions and practice
Afternoon – party and bowling

Dragon Hall AGM

After the Panto on Monday 12th December Dragon Hall will hold it’s AGM. This will start at 6:30pm.

The Christmas Party will then commence from 7pm to 10pm!

Tickets for the 5pm performance of Jack and the Beanstalk including the Christmas Party are available. Tickets cost £5 for adults and £2 for children

December 12th 2011 / Panto Time!

Get your tickets to the Dragon Hall Pantomime on December 12th 2011! 2 shows, 2pm and 5pm. After the 5pm performance the DRAGON HALL CHRISTMAS PARTY with extra entertainment by our drama club and the choir! Lots of other fun planned.

Tickets are £2 for children and £5 for adults.

Drop in starts again on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th January 2012 at 10am!

What the parents say about the Dragon Hall Drop In, 10am to 1pm, Thursday and Friday mornings during term time.

“What would we do without Dragon Hall Drop in – essential for the little ones of the area, space, friendly staff and lovely toys. Thank You!”

“This is a great place to come to bring the little ones to the drop in, lots of toys, big space to run around, nice kids to play with, lots of fun activities for them to do. We adults love it too, meeting other people, having a coffee and biscuits, interacting and making friends. It is fantastic!”

“Great facilities and staff, kids had fun cutting and eating fruit“

“We had a lovely time and the place is brilliant” – Saida

“Very well set up and organised, lovely to have the library lady there as well”

” I really like the friendly atmosphere here, Yusro loves coming to drop in and playing with other children”

“Dragon Hall is a really good place for kids to learn and have fun. Wide range of toys and different activities that keep the kids busy and stimulated. Staff are friendly and make you feel welcome.”

“Lovely spacious and friendly drop in play group. I spent a lot of time searching the web trying to find somewhere to meet with a friend from the other side of London with our two toddlers. Places like this in central London seem few and far between. Great resources for local people and visitors alike.” Rachel

“Keep Dragon Hall open – children need this great space to play and learn. Staff are welcoming, children are stimulated and parents get to relax a little!”

“Drop in sessions like this excellent one are invaluable to new mothers without family nearby and they definately stop mums going to their GP with post natal depression. Please, please keep this group going”

“We love it here and wouldn’t go anywhere else on Fridays”

The Drop In is funded by the London Borough of Camden

October Playscheme is back!

Monday 23rd October to Friday 28th October 2011! 10am to 4pm. Book early to avoid disappointment!

We are open to children from 8 to 11 years old.
The cost is £25 per child if paid BEFORE Monday 17th October. £30 if paid after 17th October.

Half price for siblings.

Theme – Halloween

Monday 24th October
Morning: Arts & Crafts, Make a Halloween costume, Afternoon: Corams Field Trip
Tuesday 25th October
Morning: More costume making, Halloween Bingo
Afternoon: Bowling Trip
Wednesday 25th October
Trip to HMS Belfast
Thursday 27th October
Morning & Afternoon: Pool, Table Tennis, Kinnect, Board Games, Dance Workshop
Friday 28th October
Morning: Costume making, Spooky Decorations, Afternoon: Dance Showcase, Halloween Fancy Dress, Party Time

The thing that made the trip special was that all the young people came from different social backgrounds and that many of them had never been to a football match before. This was also a unique experience for staff and volunteers at Dragon Hall; it was extremely ambitious to take out three different groups, totalling 25 young people.

It was clear that everyone really enjoyed the experience and we had positive feedback from the young people. This is certainly something that we would do again following the success of the trip.

The Evening Standard wrote a feature about the clean up with interviews given by Dragon Hall young people…

“But moments later we bumped into young people who are doing everything they can to send out a more positive image. As I help youth group Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust (aged 12-16) clean up broken glass, they explain why they are here today.

“It’s devastating,” says Sophie, 15. “Young people have been portrayed in such a negative way. I don’t want people looking at me as if I’m a criminal.”

Naomi, 16, another volunteer at Dragon Hall Trust, has been filming interviews all over London, finding out how the riots have affected locals. In Ealing they met Toby Young. Later they plan to take to the streets to speak to young people about their anger and disaffection.

Dragon Hall Trust’s senior youth worker, James Dellow, 38, says, “I guess one of the things we hope comes out of today is the realisation of the idea of the Big Society. What you have here is lots of people who have decided, off their own bats that their community is what’s important to them. It’s about people deciding for themselves – in a very organic way. We’ll have to wait and see if this translates itself into government policy but I’m really hopeful about what young people have shown me today. There’s been a real spirit of unity and togetherness.”

Everywhere the Blitz spirit was in evidence all day.”

It was surprisingly easy to find a group who wanted to take part in this, with lots of opinions on what could make Covent Garden & Holborn safer. However one idea needed to be chosen and in true democratic fashion they went for a photography and video project, called ‘Safer Spaces’.

The idea involves an intergenerational piece of work, mixing younger and older people, who take photos and video the areas where they feel safe/ unsafe. They hope to hold an exhibition at Covent Garden Community Centre to showcase the photos and also to produce a DVD, which can be sent out to local schools, educating people on how to stay safe and also how they can be aware of their impact on older people. Having secured £200 to run the project, they have brought in a film student from Greenwich Uni to support the work.

In June the group were invited to the SNAC Awards Ceremony in Kings Cross. This was very exciting for the group, as the ceremony was hosted by two of the stars of Waterloo Road. And their day got better, as they won the under 12s category and £1000 to boot.
So a really good project, a trophy and £1000. Well done to Alex, Shirley, Jay, Renee, Jessica, Cameron!!

Dance the afternoon away! We have a full fun filled afternoon of Ballroom and Latin American plus some sequence, party and line dances! So don’t be shy, give it a try! You can be assured of a warm welcome.

Nearest tube stations to Dragon Hall are Holborn and Covent Garden. Bus 68, 243, 55, 8, 1

February was the 5th Anniversary for the Dragon Hall Tea Dance!

Brian Cornes, our fantastic Dance Leader, had this to say ‘It was very pleasing to see the 5 year event so well attended and I had some really good feedback about the event. Two dance teacher friends attended as well as the director of a dance company I have been involved with and they praised the event . The dancers were most impressed with the volunteers serving them throughout the afternoon. I also thought the volunteers were superb, it would be great to see them again at Dragon Hall. So a big thank you to our volunteers yourself and Jenny and James. It made the day very special for me and I can not see how it could have turned out better.’

A big thank you to the Metro Bank in Holborn for supplying our fantastic volunteers to help out at this event.

We also had a film crew to video the event – soon we will have footage of the event, check back soon!
Meanwhile here are some pictures…

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