Since our Community Engagement Coordinator joined in 2024, Open Arms Kington has been steadily developing partnerships with other community organisations to provide free services and support to the people of Kington. You may already know about some of these, like our Places of Welcome sessions (every Wednesday morning, from 10am-12.30pm), and specific support groups for people living with hidden disabilities (Sunflower Social, first Wednesday of each month) and for people whose lives are affected by dementia (Dementia Matters, second Wednesday of each month). We have a number of new partnerships to announce and events coming up, and this month’s Community Update focuses on the services and support available at The Oxford.
First, on Friday November 20th, The Oxford will host a free, drop-in health and community support afternoon. A host of community organisations will be present, and you can access energy-saving advice, talk to Kington’s social prescriber, seek advice and support for older people and those affected by dementia, and get help for organising and fundraising for community/voluntary groups. You can also get a health check-up without needing an appointment. Refreshments will be available and all of the support and services are completely free. See the poster below for more details.
If you or someone you know is an armed forces veteran, did you know that The Oxford hosts the local Veteran’s Association social event every Tuesday, from 11am-1pm? Anyone with a forces background is welcome to attend, and refreshments are provided. If you’d like further information, get in touch with us at info@openarmskington.co.uk.
OAK’s newest partnership is with the charity Turning Point, who provide support to people who have reached a turning point in their lives and need to make a change, whether in terms of alcohol or drug use, mental health or a learning disability, or supporting someone you care about. Turning Point will soon start hosting free, monthly drop-in sessions in The Oxford’s barn; keep an eye on our website and social media channels for updates.
Other partner organisations currently working with us include the Country Market, who run the weekly Friday morning produce market in the gazebo at the rear of The Oxford. Regular visitors to the Country Market will have spotted that we hosted a fundraising event for Breast Cancer Now during the market on Friday 23rd October; this was a great success, raising over £240 to help support the fight against breast cancer. And talking of fundraising, OAK is hugely grateful to Kington Court Care Home, which is raising funds to support OAK and the upcoming renovations to The Oxford Arms throughout 2026.
OAK volunteers manning the Caravan Café and raising funds for Breast Cancer Now on 23rd October.
Finally, OAK continues to work with youth and culture organisations so that Kington has a more to offer its young people. We’ve recently hosted two photography workshops for young people. The most recent of these was in partnership with Rural Media, and photographs from this workshop will feature in an exhibition in our barn toward the end of this year. We also continue to work with Meadow Arts offering workshops with artists participating in their BorderLands project. The next event in this programme on Sunday 22nd November will be two workshops exploring game design with the artist David Blandy, if you’re interested to know more and book free tickets for these workshops, click on the button below.
