We are taking part in the London Open House Event on 21st and 22nd September.
“Open House London” is a yearly weekend event, during which many buildings across London open their doors to the public and the Beaufoy will be one of them.
Our doors will be open between 11am and 5pm on each of those days.
Throughout both days, we will have tours through the building at 12noon, 2pm and 4pm, as well as introductions to Diamond Way Buddhism and Meditation at 1pm and 3pm.
On Sunday, 13th December, we’ll have our Christmas Market again. Work of artists from the group will be on display, and for sale, from 16:00 onward. Refreshment and cakes will also be available as well as a very friendly atmosphere.
As we have major restoration works of our listed building going on, it will be somewhat smaller than previous markets. But we are glad to be able to offer hosting of some public events, such as the Christmas Market itself and the preceding introductory talk on Buddhism.
If you want to start your Christmas shopping already why don’t you have a look at what the members of this local group can offer? Or if you are interested in what Tibetan Buddhism can offer to a busy Londoner, why not come along to the introductory talk at 14:00 this Sunday?
Programme:
14:00 Introductory talk on Buddhism
16:00 Beaufoy Christmas Market
Face-painting for kids from our last Christmas Market
As we found out during the recent visit of Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche, Lambeth has a lot to offer a Diamond Way Buddhist when taking some downtime from renovating the Beaufoy Institute. We’re enjoying getting to know the neighbourhood.
If you go down Black Prince Road and head right along the river, just a stone’s throw from the Houses of Parliament, you’ll find (more…)
The Beaufoy Institute has been empty for over a decade, and many Lambeth residents who walk down Black Prince Road often look at the grand facade of number 39 and would very much like to see the inside. That was never possible – until this April. Having taken ownership in January 2013, the charity Diamond Way Buddhism UK, which is renovating the building as a Buddhist centre, opened the doors for the first Open Days on the weekend of 27-28 April.
The Open Days showed the past, present and future of the Beaufoy Institute. Photographs of children attending lessons in the Beaufoy when it was a technical school were exhibited on the wall in the main hall. We were even lucky enough to have a visitor who happened to be a former student of the Beaufoy Institute. He was able to tell us many stories of what life was like for the students in the old days.
We also exhibited architectural drawings of Diamond Way’s plans to renovate the building into a Buddhist centre. And in one room, there was a video touring different Diamond Way Buddhist centres around the world, showing how volunteers have renovated beautiful and historical buildings, transforming them into vibrant meditation centres while carefully conserving the beauty and listed features.
And of course, being British, there was tea and cake.
As there are so many interesting architectural features to the Beaufoy, we gave regular guided tours around the building. The history of the Beaufoy family’s philanthropy, how they built Ragged Schools in Lambeth, and the original features of the Institute such as the Cockrill-Doulton tiles, made for fascinating tours.
Some visitors were themselves very knowledgeable about local history, and told us about the Black Prince, after whom Black Prince Road is made, and the Duchy of Cornwall’s ownership of the area and how it had changed over the years.
Over the two days, more than a hundred Lambeth residents dropped in to visit us, having seen our sign on the pavement, or heard about it through friends. Everyone was impressed with the progress made so far in cleaning up the building, and with the plans that we have for it. One recurring theme was how happy people are that “someone is now taking care of the building”. Many people signed up for more information on the various art, renovation, and history projects run or planned by the Friends of the Beaufoy group. Several people also expressed an interest in learning Buddhist meditation.
Everyone wished us well with our work, and lots of visitors left touching comments in the comment book.
Lovely to see the Beaufoy in use.
Thankyou and good luck! Welcome to Kennington!
Really fabulous space. Good to see the old building being loved.
Very encouraging. Looking forward to the final opening.
Thanks for today’s viewing and tour. As a past student of the school it is good to see the new exciting project the building is to be used for.
What an amazing place! Thank you for opening the doors this weekend, a wonderful insight into this beautiful Lambeth landmark! Your neighbour (Orsett Street)
You are warmly invited to the first Open Days of the former Beaufoy Institute – the new London Diamond Way Buddhist Centre.
Come and see the historic building and find out how it will be renovated and brought back to life. There will be an exhibition of its past and guided tours of the building after 15 years being empty. It is also a chance to meet the Diamond Way Buddhist team who will present their future plans. Take a tour, or just enjoy some tea and cake. Everyone is welcome.
Address:
Beaufoy Institute
39 Black Prince Road, SE11 6JJ
Opening times:
Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th April 2013
11am – 6pm
Free entrance and refreshments.
If you know someone who went to school at the Beaufoy – we’d love to hear from them! Please make contact and leave us a story.
For more information please visit www.buddhism.org.uk
After an epic bake-athon the day before, a Diamond Way team brought cakes galore to the Kennington Fete in Cleaver Square on Sunday 27th May where thousands of locals enjoyed a day out in glorious sunshine.
The team sold hundreds of slices of cake along with donations from the Tommyfield pub, a 12 year old local resident and Fete organiser Alex (with his glorious organic chocolate mousse). To add to the festivities, the team also hosted a “Guess the Weight” competition with a splendid Jubilee Themed cake as the subject matter and prize. A thrilled winner took home the 5.196kg beauty – we’re confident she’ll find plenty of friends to share with. A buzzwire also kept quite a few kids busy!
The fete itself was a splendid occasion, featuring exotic dancing, the local beekeepers, a human slot machine and the famous Kennington Tandoori to keep us all entertained. It was a wonderful chance for us to work together with the local community and to raise money for this year’s cause, Kennington Market Garden.
We look forward to coming back next year!
This week an extraordinary free exhibition of local art from Lambeth and Buddhist art from the Himalayas is being exhibited. Uniquely, the exhibition includes a contemporary art response from local artists in Lambeth displayed alongside pieces from the British Council Collection.
It is a chance for local people to come and meet us and enjoy the rich Tibetan tradition and its contemporary equivalent.
The exhibition features more than 50 separate items including gilded statues, ritual ornaments and embroidered scroll paintings called Thangkas. The largest Thangka stretches more than 16 feet from bottom to top, while the smallest sculpture measures just 4in tall. The oldest piece in the exhibition is a rare 3rd century stone statue of the Buddha, carved in the ancient kingdom of Gandhara – part of modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Buddhist collection was previously displayed at the European Parliament in Brussels, in honour of the 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. First assembled in 2001, the collection has also been shown in Germany, Spain, Finland, Belgium, Hungary and Poland.
The Exhibition is free and at The Spring, 100 Vauxhall Walk, SE11 5EL and runs from 28th May to 3rd June 2012. A complementary programme of tours, talks and films are also happening daily – these are either free or £7.
See full details www.spaceforart.org.uk. All are very welcome to come and visit.
A very pleasant afternoon on Saturday 17th March was spent at St Anselm’s church with a host of other community groups of the Kennington, Oval & Vauxhall (KOV) Forum searching for extra helping hands for their projects. The Diamond Way Group set up shop with some details about the Karma Kagyu lineage and details of the Beaufoy renovation project, along side other local groups ranging from the Lambeth Autistim group, to the Vauxhall Society, to the local Girl Guides.
Once again, the local people we gathered feedback from were eager to see their beloved Beaufoy building being brought back to life and we reassured them that we too wish to see it restored to its former glory as quickly as possible. It’s wonderful to get more and more information about the building from people who have lived in Lambeth for many years – one man’s father had actually attended the old ragged school at the Beaufoy Institute. And one woman has lived locally for 40 years and has seen the Beaufoy go from thriving school, to empty shell. Let’s hope she’ll join us to celebrate the reopening of the building in the not-too-distant future.
What strikes us ever more about the Lambeth community is how welcoming everyone is, how active the locals are with community activities. Now more than ever, we’re looking forward to becoming a part of it.
Coming Up:
Interested in becoming a volunteer to help in the restoration of the Beaufoy? Join us on 17th March to learn more about how you can get involved with the project:
KOV Forum Volunteer Matching Event
17th March 3-5pm
St Anselm’s
Kennington Cross
286 Kennington Rd
SE11 5DU