by Natasha Lorraine Victor (Main Photo – Jeremy Hunt, chatting with some of the guests)
After the public exposure, The Social Heritage Project gained from the People Profile published in this magazine last April, our collaborative team expanded and innovative contributions flourished due to community cohesion and unity spirit.
As such, I was able to project manage the logistics and fundraising elements remotely whilst I trained with BFBS Academy in Buckinghamshire, having the wonderful dedication and support of an Operational Delivery Team, that developed into Marc and Fiona Scully, a professional catering company, ‘From Vivi’s Kitchen’, and a wide range of volunteers.
The aim of our social enterprise is geared towards identifying problems that have yet to be resolved and filling in the gaps through research, implementation and collaborative efforts. Our goal is to pass the baton onto others in the community when the project has a stable framework and has proven to be effective.
Now we have successfully facilitated the Christmas lunch two years in a row, following the great work done by our predecessors at Cranleigh Baptist Church, St Nicolas Cranleigh and our first SHP award winner in 2023, Sheila Smith; we have been assured by our Local Parish Council Chair, his wife, Fiona, and our local MP, Rt Hon. Jeremy Hunt, that they will continue this good work for the foreseeable future. Whilst this project may change hands from time to time, we are here to support our local partners whenever, wherever.
Christmas lunch was a success with 50 people in attendance including the most vulnerable members of our community.
Rosemary Hurtley, Director of SMART Cranleigh and Liz Westaway, Professional Opera Singer and performer at Memory Lane, were both given Social Heritage Project Awards presented by Jeremy Hunt and Marc Scully for their service to the community.
Both recipients of the award were most grateful for their certificates of appreciation and achievement and Liz gave an outstanding performance singing Christmas carols, timeless classics and Happy Birthday for my celebration on December 25th.
Sheila Smith, 91, who received the first Social Heritage Project Award in 2023, said: “I certainly do feel proud of my award, and it is lovely that Jeremy has come along to present this year to Rosemary as he did for me in 2023.”
She continued: “The Village Hall has been renovated and was transformed with beautiful lighting and colours. It was also so deserving for Liz Westaway to gain her award for the amazing work she does at Memory Lane with people dealing with dementia in their lives.”
Operational Delivery Lead, Fiona Scully, expressed her resonance with the challenges we have both faced with running an event on Christmas Day, however, was most keen to facilitate this for local villagers in 2025. “It’s been a joy and I’d definitely love to do this again next year. It’s about community and doing something meaningful and impactful at Christmas.”
Fiona and Marc Scully were awarded gifts for their hard work, as were the catering team we were kindly referred to in the early stages, who delivered outstanding food.
From Vivi’s Kitchen is a local family-run business including Viviana, Richard, Juliette, Emma, and Vincent. Additionally, we had many volunteers including Lena from Cranleigh Arts and her family and many familiar volunteers from last year.
We could not have facilitated this lunch without the financial support, donations and charitable endeavours of many people, organisations and collective efforts.
Our team created a crowdfunding page for online donations, and the Ops Team received upon request £500 worth of food from our local branch of COOK on the High Street for our guests, a Christmas tree from Notcutts and minced pies from local supermarkets were donated.
Additionally, we raised over £2,000 from donors we are most grateful to such as Sheila Smith and Jason Lawford who paid for gifts for all our guests from Fortnum & Mason, the Cranleigh Lions & District Club who covered the costs for transportation on the day, and Guildford Taxi driver, Kamran, for the hugely subsidised rate on a Bank Holiday to transport our guests from the surrounding areas.
A huge thank you to Emma, Martin, Lena, Hilary, Bowie, Wayne, Michael, and all our volunteers on the day.
Our next project is working on an eight-minute documentary for which we have already filmed members of Memory Lane in action, and interviewed Rosemary Hurtley, Michael Wild and Jeremy Hunt. The Social Heritage Project will continue to work on supporting others and trailblazing the way forward for our community to take action to do more, together.
