December Members Update
Another year has flown past. Bellfield continued to grow and expand as we slowly exited from the pandemic. We have exciting plans for 2023 and beyond. Some of our most recent activities and events included:
Switch on Porty’s Christmas and Window Wanderland
Bellfield celebrated the holiday season with the Switch on of the Porty Christmas Tree on 8th Dec with a music showcase from various local bands and Christmas shopping in many of our lovely local Porty Shops.
We also had another successful Window Wanderland (8th to 11th December) with some fabulous creative displays around Portobello. This year our theme was ‘Community Life.’ There were around 34 different windows to view and we would like to thank all those who helped to brighten up these dark winter nights.
Photos by Jon Davey- if you would like to support his community photography, check this link.
Local Cinema
Screen Porty @ Bellfield, a volunteer led community project, brought the magic of cinema to Portobello by screening two films recently at Bellfield. First was ‘Rory’s Way’ on 11th November and then ‘Local Hero’ on 9th December. Drinks and nibbles were served in the foyer where people were able to mix and chat. Screen Porty are seeking ideas for what to show next and are also looking for anyone who may be interested in supporting them. Contact screenporty@gmail.com if interested and keep your eyes out for future screenings.
Some of our other significant events during 2022 included:
An Extraordinary General Meeting in February at Bellfield that unanimously voted to turn Action Porty from a Limited Company with charitable status, to a Community Benefit Society with charitable status. The main benefit of this will be to enable us to raise funding through a community shares issue.
The Friday Café
Our Bellfield volunteers launched the Friday Café in the Bellfield Foyer. The Café offers home baking and skills sharing sessions in arts and crafts and is a chance to connect with friendly faces and learn new skills in a warm, relaxed space.
Many other things happened including
Jazz evenings
Weddings
Absent Friends bonfires on the beach
New Classes- we continue to provide a wide range of classes for all age groups. Keep up to date with our new and extended classes here.
Action Porty has also been very active in a number of projects and events in collaboration with other local organisations. Many of these were part of our environmental and sustainability efforts.
Porty Community Fridge
Swift City Project
Heat Fair and Hot Ceilidh
Bikefest
New Volunteer Co-ordinator
We are very pleased to announce that Alison Jeffrey Thom has joined Bellfield as our new volunteer co-ordinator. We extend a heartfelt welcome to her as she begins her journey with us. You will no doubt learn more about Alison in our next members update.
Volunteer at Bellfield
We are always grateful for volunteers. If you would like to help out please check our latest volunteering opportunities. Have a look and see if any of them take your fancy:
Volunteering is a great way to give back to your community, acquire new skills or just make new friends and meet like-minded people, so why not volunteer with us! You can also contact Alison on
alison@actionporty.com to chat about roles that are of interest to you.
Gift by Donation
Your generosity keeps us going. As a charity, we rely on your donations (one off or regular) to enable us to support Bellfield and make a difference to the community of Portobello. Don't forget that, in addition to gifts by donation, you can find out more about ways to donate here.
Lastly, you can also support us each time you shop on Amazon, then please use AmazonSmile and Amazon will donate to Action Porty, at no cost to you.
Till the next update, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support and wish you and yours a happy and healthy New Year.
Yours Aye
The Action Porty Board for Bellfield