Free time at Share is a chance for students to unwind at the end of our sessions. They can choose to relax, join in activities, or enjoy some quiet time with puzzles and board games.

Thanks to the creativity of our staff and students, Wednesdays now bring something extra as we’ve introduced our very own (drum roll please), Jazz Club!

Our Immersive Learning Suite provides the perfect atmosphere, with jazz playing on the big screen alongside wraparound visuals and ambient lighting that transform the space. Students are served juice and sparkling water in fancy glasses, recreating the mood of a cosy jazz bar.

Each week we explore two jazz artists, such as Dinah Washington, Samara Joy, and Esperanza Spalding. Students can listen, learn, and dance if they feel like it, or just sit back, socialise with other students, and soak up the relaxed jazz-bar vibe.

Haroon said, 'I like jazz club because I like the music. I like the drinks', while Trevor greets our Wellbeing Officer every Wednesday by throwing his arms in the air and joyfully announcing, ‘Jazz Club!’

Tariq also enjoys coming along, he added, 'The first day of jazz club a lot of people were dancing. The singer had a sweet voice. I like her earrings, the yellow, blue and white', and Vishal said 'It’s nice. Nice cups. It’s smart.”

Students also take on roles to help the club run. Nnamdi is our bartender, Tariq is the promoter and usher who distributes tickets and drums up custom around the building, and Vishal has used his artistic talents to create decorations.

Jazz Club has quickly become a highlight of our weekly calendar. It’s a fun, inclusive way to build social skills and support emotional wellbeing, while giving students a space to relax and enjoy themselves. 

To mark the launch of the Share Community Cookbook, we invited students to take part in a fun cooking competition. Participants chose a recipe from the cookbook to prepare at home and submitted photos of themselves cooking, along with their finished dishes.

We were so impressed by the creativity and enthusiasm on display, and we're delighted to announce the winners who each received a £25 supermarket voucher in recognition of their excellent efforts.

Our winners are:

Derek, who made a tasty mushroom risotto.

Kerry-Louise, who prepared a delicious and healthy vegetable pasta dish.

Abl, who baked flapjacks and added his own finishing touches with strawberries and chocolate sauce.

The cookbook was created with support from Wandsworth Council and features a wonderful collection of easy read, healthy recipes to try at home, including snacks, hearty meals, and sweet treats.

A huge well done to all the students who took part, and congratulations again to our winners! 

Students from our new Steps into Horticulture course have been getting hands-on experience through a six-week volunteering project at Morden Hall Park, working alongside the National Trust’s Community Rangers.

Steps into Horticulture builds on Share’s well-established horticulture programme, offering students the chance to take their skills further and prepare for employment. The course focuses on developing both practical gardening techniques and essential work-readiness skills such as teamwork, communication and timekeeping. 

The volunteering project has helped our students to build their confidence in new settings. Every Monday, the class travelled from Share Tooting to Morden Hall Park, where they spent the morning working outdoors with Community Ranger Molly. This not only gave students the chance to practise familiar horticultural tasks in a new environment, but also gave them experience of following instructions from someone they haven’t worked with before, an important step towards future employment.

Students took part in a range of activities: deadheading roses in the Rose Garden, raking hay meadows, and removing invasive plants such as the Tree of Heaven. They used a variety of tools, from secateurs and loppers to a new piece of equipment for everyone - the 'tree popper', which helps pull out roots.

The project has been a fantastic opportunity for students to apply their horticultural knowledge in real-world settings, build their confidence, and get a taste of what working life might look like. As well as helping to care for the park’s green spaces, they’re also growing the skills and self-belief that will help them thrive beyond Share.

Recently, our Music students had the incredible opportunity to perform at Kensington Palace’s Community Celebration event.

In late August, students took to the stage with their own heartfelt version of 'What a Wonderful World', complete with original lyrics and artwork created during their Music classes. Each artwork reflected the students’ personal visions of a 'wonderful world', from happy moments with friends and family, to cultural traditions, music, hobbies, and other things that bring them joy. At the end of the song, several students gave short speeches sharing the inspirations behind their work, adding a personal and moving touch to the performance.

The celebration continued for a second day, when another group performed a beautiful cover of 'You Raise Me Up', using Makaton signing to make the performance inclusive and engaging for everyone. Members of the public were encouraged to sign along, creating a truly special, shared experience. The set concluded with a lively rendition of 'Ring of Fire', a song our students discovered while exploring the country music genre, which brought plenty of smiles and applause from the audience.

Our Music Tutor Emily commented, 'Our Music groups had a fantastic time performing at the Community Celebration! A huge thank you to all the amazing staff and volunteers who supported us throughout the preparation and on performance day. It was a truly special experience for our students: a chance to perform publicly, express themselves through music and art, and connect with the local community.

'We’re incredibly proud of everyone who worked together as a team, from developing ideas, writing lyrics, and creating art, to making music, singing, dancing, and lighting up the stage. Well done to all involved! We can’t wait to share more of our music in the future!'