After three years of fund-raising and one year of building, everyone at MEA is hugely excited to be opening its Café on The Common within the Cricket Club’s new pavilion in December.

We have almost reached our joint target of £2.1m and are looking forward to welcoming visitors to our café, especially the many people who have supported us from the beginning.

We have loved meeting friends and supporters at our many fund-raising events. A virtual dog show, music quiz nights, bluebell walks with a pop-up cafe, a comedy night and many other events have not only raised money, but also allowed us to tell people about the training café and to answer questions from parents of young adults with learning disabilities.

Many residents supported local hero Brent’s 4 x 100 ultra marathons, Helen’s London to Paris cycle ride, Lucy, Helen & Pete’s marathon, the five Coast Busters’ cycle ride to Cornwall and the 3 Peaks Challenge undertaken by Sagacity Solutions.

We are also grateful for donations from Chorleywood & Hazlemere Golf Clubs, St Clement Danes’ Charity week, along with corporate donations such as Urenco Ltd, and Northwood U3a Ukulele group, Northwood 41 Club, Northwood Area Women’s Club and KindheART charity, to name but a few!

We have been generously supported by Three Rivers District Councillors, especially Phil Williams, Alison Wall and Ciaran Reed and Alex Murray and his team at W3RT.

Chorleywood Parish Council, who has worked alongside us during the building process, are as excited as we are that the opening day is looming.

Common Ranger Daniel and his team planted grassland seeds this week, which will eventually grow and surround the edges of the new Cricket Club pavilion.

Councillor Debbie Rosario, Chair of the Parish Council, said “The Parish Council is delighted that the completion of the pavilion is nearing its end. We look forward to the Café on The Common opening and seeing the excellent work undertaken by MEA continuing in the heart of our community as well as the expansion of cricket opportunities on the Common in 2023.”

We chose this charity because we love what they are doing ie empowering young adults with disability to live a fuller life which matches our mission.

Our vision is that all children and young adults deserve 'A Brighter Future'.

We are a young local charity run by women who live in Herts and Middlesex - We support a range of good causes both internationally in the poorest parts of the world as well as local charities which also work towards empowering women and children.

"We curate Art events and look forward to local women who are interested in the Arts with an element of social to join us at our events" says Alka Shah Chair of KindHeART Charity.

Erica Bendall said "We are delighted that KindHeART charity reached out to us and we are looking forward to working together for future projects."

We are delighted that St Clement Danes has supported us during this academic year, we are looking forward to increasing opportunities for their students to be involved with MEA. The charity will continue to benefit from a number of their whole school fundraising efforts as our relationship develops over the coming years. In addition we will see a number of their Sixth Form students extending their community service to work with the MEA team and interns.

"We are delighted to work with a charity at the heart of our Chorleywood community, especially one that is focused on training and education for young people - and provides the prospect of a café with delicious food!" - Toby Sutherland, Headteacher

A Family Day Out & Afternoon Teas

"The seas of bluebells were quite magical, especially when the sun broke through the pale green of the tree canopy, and I had a real sense of people coming alive after a long hibernation: Happy families enjoying the privilege of a new place to explore and a fun pop up café." - Rachel Hatfield

Photos courtesy of Simon Varnals. Video courtesy of Tim Harris.

We are delighted to announce that the Northwood Area Women’s Club (NAWC) has made MEA their Charity of the Year, May 2021 - May 2022.

NAWC members are well known in their community for helping a variety of good causes through social events and fund-raising initiatives and have committed to supporting MEA over the last 12 months.

One of NAWC’s most popular activities is a weekly FITSTEPS Dancercise class, led by former UK Ballroom and Latin Dance Champion Suzanne Newbert.The ladies have been incredible busy raising a staggering £3,046 with a monthly raffle, Ladies who Lunch, ABC Sale, along with their Christmas Market including selling MEA's Christmas cards. Pam Greening and Lynette Morrow presented the cheque to Katharine Weston on the 12th May.

“We are delighted to receive NAWC fund-raising cheque today, it has been a great partnership with the ladies and we are looking forward to seeing them at the Café when we open in early Autumn.” says Katharine Weston

Photos courtesy of Cindy Kane