Latest News

All the latest news, events and activities at AAA 

Kevin Jenkins OBE
​Funeral Announcement and Tribute Fund

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​The funeral of the founder of charity Ambition Aspire Achieve, Kevin Jenkins OBE, will take place on Friday 30th April. A special tribute fund has been set up in Kevin’s name to go towards projects that were important to him, to help make life better for local young people.

The funeral is for family only because of COVID restrictions, but in view of the numbers of people who want to say goodbye to Kevin, the funeral cortege will stop outside Ambition, Aspire, Achieve (AAA)’s base at the Terence Brown Arc in The Park, at Hermit Road Recreation Ground, Bethell Avenue, Canning Town. It will stop on the morning of Friday 30th April, at 10am for a few minutes.

Kevin’s family have asked people who wish to pay their respects, to not do so at the cemetery, but only outside the Arc, along Bethell Avenue. They would also appreciate donations made to the special fund which has been set up in his name, instead of sending flowers.

Kevin was a life-long West Ham United fan and mourners will be wearing “something claret and blue” at the funeral. Kevin’s wife Paula said that if those at the Arc wished to do the same that “would be lovely to see” when the cortege stops at the Arc.

Kevin Jenkins OBE, founder of AAA and life president of Community Links, which he co-founded, died on 7th April. He served on Newham Council for 28 years, won a Beacon Award and was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Newham. He dedicated his life to making life better for others.

The special tribute fund set up by Kevin’s family can be accessed at:
https://kevinjenkinsobe.muchloved.com/

Kevin’s family, AAA trustees and staff have pledged to carry on all his work, to hold onto and maintain his legacy.

Thank You

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The family of our founder Kevin Jenkins OBE would like to express their thanks for the support they received since Kevin passed away last week.

"We want to thank people for their well wishes, cards and flowers and would like to say how thankful we are for their kind words during this difficult time"
Paula, Emma, Katy, Ben, Lucy and all the family

Kevin Jenkins OBE

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The staff and trustees at Ambition Aspire Achieve are deeply saddened to announce the death of our founder Kevin Jenkins OBE, who passed away this week on Wednesday. Kevin will be hugely missed by all who knew him - the following is a tribute from his wife Paula and his family:
 
'It is with great sadness we inform you that our beloved Kevin Jenkins OBE, founder of AAA and life president of Community Links which he co-founded over 40 years ago, passed away on Wednesday 7th April 2021. He was an incredible man who achieved so much during his lifetime, including an OBE, creating two very successful charities, a Beacon Award, over 25 years’ service as a Councillor and the freedom of the London Borough of Newham. He was a loving husband, son, brother, uncle, godfather, the most wonderful dad to his four children and a role model that his wife and children can always be proud of – he was and always will be their hero. 
 
Kevin was an outstanding fundraiser full of new ideas and initiatives every day, to raise support for the vulnerable and those in need - he dedicated his life to making life better for others. He has left us all heartbroken, but we must hold on to the legacy he built during his amazing life. He always believed that children can achieve anything despite their background or circumstances. He was a people person who everyone loved and admired, always putting others before himself. He was a truly selfless man who touched the lives of so many. 
 
A pillar of the community, a life-long West Ham United fan and a collector with so many interests. We have a hole left in our lives that can never be replaced. Mr Kevin John Jenkins, our forever hero'.

AAA Cook Book
March 2021

Our friends at the Payment Services Regulator along with our very own young chef Oscar have produced 'Cook', a great cookbook with recipes from around the world to raise vital funds for our work. Visit our Virgin Money page to make a minimum £5 donation and then contact AAA Founder Kevin Jenkins to grab your e-book! 

Activities at the Arc
March 2021

Activities at the Arc have started to re-open, including a busy February half-term programme of short break activities delivered for children and young people with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities, providing crucial respite for young people and their families during the current lockdown. We have lots of activities planned during the Easter school holiday break and beyond as restrictions ease, including a number of exciting new projects for local children and young people. Stay tuned to our What's On page for further details or contact us to find out more.

Co-op Community Fund
March 2021

Ambition Aspire Achieve can now receive donations through Co-op customers who are also Co-op members, when they buy Co-op branded items. Members can choose us as their benefiting charity each time they buy qualifying items. It’s part of the Co-op Good Causes fund scheme. Supporters need to be Co-op members or become a member to be able to choose us as their chosen charity. More details on the scheme and how you can help here.

Annual Easter Appeal
March 2021

Our annual Easter egg appeal launched this month with the aim to provide over 2,000 vulnerable Newham children and young people with an Easter egg this year. The appeal has got off to a great start, with kind donations already received from a number of supporters and individuals. There is still a long way to go and this year we are welcoming online donations for the appeal - visit our Amazon or John Lewis donation pages if you can help! You can also contact AAA Founder Kevin Jenkins to find out more about the appeal this year.

West Ham United Support
February 2021

A huge thank you to the players at West Ham United for supporting our work. During a recent training session, first team players highlighted our work by wearing AAA t-shirts! As part of our ongoing partnership with the club, we were also delighted to be featured in the match day programme for the West Ham vs Spurs fixture.

2020 Christmas Toy Appeal
​December 2020

​The 2020 Newham Christmas Toy Appeal has now officially launched in a year that promises to be the hardest, but perhaps one of the most important yet. The Appeal, now in its 43rd year will be run by Ambition Aspire Achieve and the Newham Recorder in conjunction with Community Links and is already receiving more requests for help than in any of the previous 42 years. Every child helped will be experiencing the ravages of poverty with Christmas a particularly challenging time for each family, with money unavailable to provide the gifts and seasonal foods that so many of us take for granted. Please consider helping the 2020 Appeal this year - together we can make a real difference for some of Newham's most disadvantaged and vulnerable children this Christmas. Please contact our Founder Kevin Jenkins to find out more.

Community Xmas Trees
November 2020

With Christmas on the way, we are once again running our annual Community Christmas Trees enterprise to raise funds for our work with children and young people. In line with Covid-19 safety measures, our delivery team will be wearing masks and gloves, with their temperature checked before making deliveries. Any bases purchased will be sanitised and left standing for 72 hours before delivery. This year you can also choose to support a family by purchasing and donating one of our stunning 6ft Nordman Fir Trees! Purchase directly via our Shop on the website or contact Kevin for further details.

COVID-19 Update
​November 2020

With the latest government announcement surrounding COVID-19 restrictions, some of our clubs and activities have been suspended during the lockdown period, in particular our weekly Wednesday youth club at the Arc and activities based at Abbey Hub. Our services at the Arc supporting children and young people with additional needs remain open, to ensure those most in need continue to receive support. Visit our What's On page to find out more about the projects and activities we are delivering. We expect to re-open all provision as soon as lockdown restrictions have been lifted.

Harvest Appeal
October 2020

We recently launched a harvest appeal to provide additional support to local children and families over the coming winter months, building on our work distributing food to those in need earlier this year. A huge thanks to Mick White, Managing Director of
Micks Furniture Discount in Cumberland Road, Plaistow, who provided a much needed donation of food to help kickstart the appeal. Get in touch with Kevin for further details.

Summer 2020
August 2020

Following the re-opening of Arc in the Park and Abbey Hub, we've had a busy summer so far, delivering lots of fun activities for local children and young people.  With new rules and safety measures in place, we've been delivering daily play schemes and youth clubs at the Arc and across parks in Newham. Stay tuned for regular updates on even more projects and activities re-opening in September - visit our What's On page for further detail.

Arc Music Project
July 2020

We're delighted to announce we have been awarded an Amplify London grant to launch a new music project in the Autumn. Amplify London is a partnership between the London Music Fund and YouTube Music, with five grassroots music projects chosen across London to benefit from the grant. The funding will support a brand new music project at the Arc, enabling music technology and digital music making workshops for young people attending our youth clubs. We look forward to sharing more once the project is up and running later this year.

COVID-19 Support Project
April 2020

With our centres temporarily closing last month due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we've been providing as much support as we can to our most vulnerable children and their families during the lockdown period. As well as regular calls and check-ins we've been pulling together and delivering weekly food and support packages for those who most need them. To support our work in this area we're now welcoming donations of non-perishable foods and household items, new (or nearly new) books, games and toys and second-hand laptops or tablets that we can loan to children during the lockdown and then use in our future work. If you'd like to help or find our more, please contact Kevin.

You can also help us to raise funds for items by making a donation towards our Cover-19 support work via our Virgin Money Giving page.  All your contributions, however small, make a tremendous difference and help us to continue our work where it's most needed. 

Easter Egg Appeal 2020
​April 2020

Despite the impact of the coronavirus we arranged delivery of more than 750 Easter eggs to local disadvantaged children in time for the Easter weekend. A huge thank you to those who donated eggs and made online donations helping us to purchase even more. The role of honour this year includes Newham Rotary Club, Chelsfield, London Legacy Development Corporation, Zurich Insurance, Financial Conduct Authority, Lendlease, EVS Bikers and the RCCG New Wine Assembly. Thank you again - you have helped to bring some joy to underprivileged children living in exceptional times.

Arc in the Park and Abbey Hub - Coronavirus/COVID-19 Update
March 2020

Following the latest government advice surrounding the current situation with the Coronavirus/COVID-19, we have made the difficult decision to suspend clubs, activities and open access provision at both the Terence Brown Arc in the Park and the Glyn Hopkin Abbey Hub for the time being. We remain committed to opening up our services again as soon as possible and also providing any help to the children, young people and families we work with where we can.  We can be contacted via email or phone - please do feel free to get in touch with Jonny jonny@theaaazone.com 07957620462 or Paula paula@theaaazone.com 07432 024002. In the meantime, we hope that you and your loved ones are in good health and we look forward to welcoming all our service users and families back when our centres re-open. Take care and stay safe.

Comedy Benefit Night
March 2020

Star comedians came out in force, performing at the Backyard Comedy Club this month to raise funds for our work. The night was a tremendous success with our patron Ricky Grover performing alongside Angela Barnes, David Ward, Tim Vine, Ninia Benjamin, Tom Allen and Tom Stade - all of whom generously gave their time to raise funds for us. A huge thank you to all of them, especially Ricky who organised everything - we truly appreciate the support

City Bridge Trust Project
February 2020

We're delighted to announce we have been awarded grant funding by the City Bridge Trust. The new 3 year grant will help us to grow and develop our work supporting young people with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND), opening up new opportunities including a multi-sports weekend club, accredited weekly activity workshops in life-skills, growing, gardening, arts and music and regular day trips and experiences during the summer months. Stay tuned for updates!

Get Involved!
January 2020

We have lots of opportunities to get involved and help us raise funds for our work. This year you can ride, run or swim to raise money for us. We have places available in the forthcoming events:

​The Vitality London 10k - Monday 25th May
The Ride Surrey London 100 - Sunday 16th August
The Swim Serpentine - Saturday 26th September

​Contact us to sign up!

Lottery Development Grant
January 2020

Good news for the start of the year! AAA has been chosen as a recipient of a Lottery Development Grant, provided as part of the National Lottery's Community Fund. The 1 year grant provides important core funding for us at a key time and will help us to reach even more children and young people in the longer-term. Funding will help us to develop and implement our first Strategy Plan and target new areas of fundraising.

Xmas Toy Appeal Collaboration
December 2019

This Christmas we collaborated with charity partner Community Links to organise and deliver the annual Newham Recorder Christmas Toy Appeal. The Appeal was a great success with over 2,500 children benefiting and over 100 volunteers involved in supporting the work to sort and bag up thousands of kindly donated gifts at the toy warehouse. We're looking forward to building on the fantastic success of the appeal next year!

Xmas 2019 at AAA
​December 2019

Xmas 2019 has been a special time at AAA! December has been full of festive events and activities for the many children and young people accessing Arc in the Park and Abbey Hub. Along with Xmas parties and celebrations, pantomime performances have been a particular highlight, including some great shows delivered by our partner Hurricane Theatre Company and a trip to the Peacock Theatre in London's West End for 130 children and their families to watch "Treasure Island". Many thanks to staff at Price Waterhouse Coopers for kindly organising the trip and performing the show!

Abbey Hub Refurb
November 2019

It's an exciting time at the Glyn Hopkin Abbey Hub, with work well underway to refurbish and transform the site thanks to funding secured this year. New play equipment has been installed and the garden area transformed, including a new secret garden and adventure playground, providing great additions to the site. More development work is planned next year so stay tuned!

New Funding - Reaching Out
November 2019

Reaching Out - our work in the heart of communities across Newham, supporting young people away from gangs, crime and anti-social behaviour is growing thanks to nw funding secured from the Evening Standard and the Royal Docks Trust. Our team of youth Workers are now engaging with children and young people across the borough, during evenings and weekends, helping them to make positive choices and signposting those engaged, to opportunities delivered by AAA and other providers offering support.

Half Term Sailing Trip
October 2019

A group of young people attending our youth projects had a life-changing experience over the October half-term break. Working with the Ocean Youth Trust, we organised a once in a lifetime voyage for the group to sail a tall ship from Southampton to the Isle of Wight and back again, spending 5 nights on board. Highlights of the trip included a very rare dolphin site inside the Solent, a visit to the lifeboat station in Cowes, a spooky Halloween party on board and a night sail back to Southampton, with plenty of hot drinks to keep the group warm!

Duke of Edinburgh Awards
October 2019

We're delighted to become an official Duke of Edinburgh Awards  centre with our involvement in the scheme strengthening our offer for local children and young people.

To celebrate the achievement our very own DofE Awards Supervisors Paula and Marie spent a lovely morning at St Jame's Palace, collecting our licence certificate from ex Chelsea and England football star John Terry!

Alice in Canning Town
​August 2019

Following their production of Animal Farm on a real-life farmyard in 2014, James Kenworth and James Charlton bring a brand new, contemporary urban adaptation of much-loved fantasy adventure Alice in Wonderland to the Terence Brown Arc in the Park. Reconfigured especially for the site the show explores the Newham's rich heritage and shows off the talent of its young people.

This is Alice in Wonderland as you’ve never seen before. All the favourite characters are still there, but in new, modern guises. A cockney rabbit, a rave-mad Mad Hatter, a hookah-smoking ex-Bollywood actor, Tweedledee and Tweedledum as hipsters, and a would-be grime artist called MC Turtle. From Cockney to Bangra, from the Krays to Stormzy, Alice in Canning Town is a celebration of not only one of the best loved fantasies of all time, but a kaleidoscopic and action-packed journey through an East End that survived Hitler’s blitz and reinvented itself as a leading light in multicultural Britain.

Shows will be running from Monday 12th August through to Sunday 18th August. Mon to Sat 7:30pm, Matinees Fri to Sun 3pm. Everyone is welcome to attend our Pay What You Can Performances. 1p, 50p, £1, £5, £10; whatever you can afford and all proceeds go to support Arc in the Park.

Young Londoners Fund
​June 2019

We’re delighted to be among the first recipients of funding from the Mayor’s Young Londoners Fund! The Fund was created to help give young people the support they need to build a better future and avoid getting caught up in crime and provides £30m for projects in local communities across London. Our project “Breaking Out” will will provide positive activities and opportunities for young people living close to the Terence Brown Arc in the Park.  Funding will support the delivery of our youth clubs and a whole range of activities to support the progression of over 200 local, at-risk young people, including sports and games, outdoor activities and pursuits, workshops on personal health and development, music, drama and dance.  To find out more about the project, please contact AAA’s Chief Executive Jonny Boux.

MUGA Opening @ The Arc
May 2019

Staff, trustees, supporters and friends of AAA recently joined children and young people to Celebrate the grand opening of our new Multi Use Games Area at the Terence Brown Arc in the Park. The facility was declared open by actor, comedian and AAA patron Ricky Grover with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Fellow patrons Lyn Brown MP and Terence Brown were also present for the celebrations along with representatives from construction firm MACE and a number of contractors who worked on the incredible project. A huge thank you to all involved - the new facility is an amazing addition to the Arc and will greatly improve our offer for local children and young people.

Easter Appeal 2019
May 2019

Our 2019 Easter Appeal is now over and was our most successful yet, with an impressive 2,300 eggs donated to children this year! A huge thank you to partners, supporters and friends of AAA who donated, ensuring local and disadvantaged children and families enjoy an egg on Easter Sunday. This year's role of honour includes Aspers Casino, Tesco's, West Ham United Foundation, Newham Chamber of Commerce, Gallagher Insurance, Zurich Insurance, Vinci Facilities Management, Barclays, LLDC, Docklands Light Railway, UEL, Berkley Offshore, Newham Recorder, Forest School, the Pratten Family and many individual members of the public.

Future Talent - New Project
March 2019

We're pleased to announce a brand-new project, "Future Talent". Delivered in partnership with London Youth and 6 other London based charities, the project provides a great opportunity to deliver a whole host of activities for young people aged 14 to 18 accessing Arc in the Park. The programme will help young people to develop their core life skills, improve employability skills and provide them with opportunities to build up their social and professional networks. To find out more about the project please contact AAA's Chief Executive Jonny Boux.

Local Co-Op Support
December 2018

A massive thank you to staff and shoppers at the Co-Operative supermarket in Canning Town, who have raised money for us this year, supporting our work via the company's local community fund scheme, which contributes 1% of shoppers spend on Co-Op own brands to local causes. We visited the store last month, meeting the Manager and staff who kindly presented us with a cheque for the amount raised.

Merry Xmas 2018!
December 2018

Christmas has arrived at AAA and during December we've been organising and running all sorts of festive events and activities for children and young people. Seasonal activities recently held at Arc in the Park have proved to be ever popular including our Christmas themes children's parties and panto and Christmas special family fun day.

​Our Community Christmas Trees social enterprise has also been a big hit again this year - we sold our highest number of trees ever to schools, local people, businesses and even no. 11 Downing Street, raising important funds for our work.

BGC Charity Day
October 2018

We were honoured and thrilled to be selected as one of BGC's chosen charities to be part of their annual Charity Day. Chair of Trustees Christine Bowden, AAA's new Chief Executive Jonny Boux and Operations Manager Paula Blake joined the day held in BGC's offices in Canary Wharf along with AAA beneficiaries Oscar and Jamie and West Ham Utd footballers Mark Noble and Aaron Cresswell who kindly supported us.

The AAA team met fundraisers, celebrities and BGC staff during a very special super hero themed day, with Oscar and Jamie even given the chance to try their hand on the trading floor!

Grand Opening Abbey Hub
August 2018

We had a fantastic day as the Glyn Hopkin Abbey Hub opened its doors and AAA staff and trustees were joined by many friends, local neighbours and supporters to mark the occasion. AAA patron Glyn Hopkin formally opened the site in Gay Road, Stratford with local children, leading a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Developed in partnership with Thames Water who own the site, we will use the Hub to deliver new children's groups with a special environmental focus, with plans to use the large garden area for conservation projects and allotments to teach local young people about healthy eating.

​We are very excited about this new venture and you can find out more about what we do at Abbey Hub here.

Arc Summer Open Day
August 2018

Arc in the Park opened its doors to the local community recently, holding its second annual Summer community day. Supported by a small grant from the London Borough of Newham, the event proved to be a great success, providing the opportunity for local young people and their families residing around the Arc to meet the team and find out more about all the projects now running at the site.