James Purefoy, star of Resident Evil and television’s Rome, joined stage and television actress Sheila Hancock and Adulthood/Kidulthood actor Red Madell and others at Greenhouse White City Youth Drama (GWCYT).

The six actors each spent an evening filming with the senior members of the programme based in the heart of London’s White City Estate.

They stared in different narratives written by the young people about their response to their world coming to an end.

Sheila Hancock, said: “I was delighted to come down and work with the talented young people on the programme.

“Drama teaches self respect, discipline and is fun. Anything that taps into young peoples’ creativity is wonderful as acting isn’t just about talent.”

The film is being edited and it’s hoped it will be screened in the summer.

GWCYT is a community club for 9 to 18-year-olds which encourages young people to try their hand at drama, from performing classic plays to developing their own pieces under the guidance of theatre professionals.

The programme gives young people the chance to experience theatre and develop their life skills whilst making friends.

For further information about the club please click here

The club which has teams in the English Basketball National League, now has a new logo to show Greenhouse’s involvement and is called ‘London Greenhouse Pioneers.’

Michael de Giorgio, Greenhouse Chief Executive, said: “We already support the Pioneers and many of our Greenhouse basketball coaches and participants already play active roles in the club.

“The club has strong links to schools and community clubs and places high importance on players’ attendance and behaviour, an ethos we follow across our Greenhouse programmes, so a merger seemed a natural progression for both clubs.

“I hope London Greenhouse Pioneers will continue to go from strength to strength so we attract more young people into this fantastic sport across London.”

Greenhouse London Pioneers has Under 14, 16 and 18 teams competing in the national league alongside a new men’s team.

Recent successes include the Under 18s getting through to the final fours of the national league after defeating the Stockport Spartans 74-72. (might need updating)

Quote to add from Pioneers coach………………………………………………..

The girls ran for glory with support from their Greenhouse coach and British high jumper, Samson Oni, who is set to compete in this year’s Olympics.

Jarntae, 12, from Sarah Bonnell School just down the road from the stadium, said: “It was an amazing experience. It was really hard work but I focussed on the track and ran as fast as I could.

“Samson is a great coach and told me how to perform in the race so I’m pleased I came third. We were all really excited to see where he will compete in a few months time.”

Greenhouse Athletics Coach Samson, said: “They entered through the official athlete route and walked onto the track in the same way Usain Bolt and the other athletes will do during the Games.

“They will remember this day for the rest of their lives and I think it has really inspired them to train hard in school. Who knows maybe one of them will be a future Olympian.”

He added: “It was great for me to see the finished stadium, I could visualise where I should be competing. To hear the roar of the crowd and see the stands full of supporters made me think of how it will be during the Olympics.”

The Greenhouse participants were chosen to take part in this once in a lifetime opportunity alongside 1000 members of the public thanks to Gold Challenge.

Last month we went back to the site of our very first programme, St Paul’s School in West London, for G10 – a fun filled sports and performing arts event.

One of the largest sporting events of its kind, Greenhouse participants from across London were able to try their hand at different Olympic sports.

These included regular Greenhouse sports including basketball, football, athletics and tennis alongside taster sessions in fencing, fives and circus skills.

Michael de Giorgio, Greenhouse Chief Executive, said: “G10 was a fantastic event. Organising something of this scale, for so many of our young people, with the London Games just around the corner seemed the only way to celebrate our 10th birthday.

“Being back on the site of our first sports programme makes it all the more special. Back then we only had 15 teenagers, now we reach around 10,000.”

Greenhouse started in 2002 with a pilot multisports programme to help troubled teenagers living on a West London estate.

Using the top sports facilities at St Paul’s School the holiday programme, run with the Metropolitan Police, gave the young people something positive to do with their time.

From then Greenhouse has grown to reach thousands of young people across London through sport, dance and drama programmes in schools and the community.

Greenhouse has been named ‘School Partner of the Year’ at the Pro-Active London Awards for Sport and Physical Activity.

The award recognises our successful work in schools and the impact our programmes are having on young people.

A spokesman for Pro-Active London, said: “Each Greenhouse programme is truly inclusive and regularly delivers to the hardest to reach and often the least engaged young people.

“By setting high expectations of self discipline, attitude and time keeping, the results have been truly amazing with the majority of schools commenting that they have seen all round improvements in many of the participants.”

Greenhouse multisports coach, Carly Lovejoy, who works at a special educational needs school in North West London was runner up in the Coach of the Year category.

Mark Curtin, Greenhouse Head of Programmes, said: “It’s great to be recognised in this way as it reflects the great work of all our staff, coaches and young people.

“This is a prestigious event in the grass roots, community, youth engagement and sports development industry so it’s fantastic to have done so well in two categories.”

The award follows success last year at the Pro-Active London Awards where Greenhouse Bethwin Football Club was named Club of the Year and table tennis coach and former British and Irish champion, Jason Sugrue, was crowned Coach of the Year.

Greenhouse has been named ‘School Partner of the Year’ at the Pro-Active London Awards for Sport and Physical Activity.

The awards recognised Greenhouse for our successful work in schools and the impact our programmes are having on young people.

PRO-ACTIVE London, said: ” (Of Greenhouse) Each programme is truly inclusive and regularly delivers to the hardest to reach and often the least engaged young people.

“By setting high expectations of self discipline, attitude and time keeping, the results of the programmes have been truly amazing with the majority of schools commenting that they have seen an ‘all round’ improvement in many of the participants.”

Greenhouse multisports coach, Carly Lovejoy, who works at Swiss Cottage Special Educational Needs School was runner up in the Coach of the Year category.

The ceremony at the Oval Cricket Ground, was hosted by Olympic medley swimmer Adrian Turner. Adrian told the 240 guests how important grassroots sport and volunteers had been in developing his career.

Mark Curtin, Greenhouse Head of Programmes, said: “It’s great to be recognised in this way as it reflects the great work of all our staff, coaches and young people.

“This is a prestigous event in the community, grass roots, youth engagement and sports development industry. Well done also to Carly who was nominated for her great work within our multisports programmes.”

Christine Double, Director of PRO-ACTIVE South London, said: “These awards again demonstrated the amazing work of the volunteer clubs, coaches, instructors and ambassadors that make sport happen.

“Without this inspirational workforce sport would not be where it is today. We are on the verge of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and all of the athletes taking part are where they are because of the volunteers who made it possible for them to take part in the sports they love.”

PRO-ACTIVE London is made up of 5 sub-regional Pro-Active partnerships covering the North, South, East, West and Central areas of London. They are funded by Sport England. Each PRO-ACTIVE is a partnership of organisations with a common interest in developing sport and physical activity in the London boroughs they cover.

For more information visit www.pro-activelondon.org

Greenhouse table tennis players took on the the world’s best in Sardinia.

A team of girls from Morpeth School in east London and a team of boys from Harefield Academy in west London competed in the World Schools’ Table Tennis Championships.

The girls were chosen to represent England and were drawn in a group against Greece, Israel and Slovakia. They joined 60 teams from 20 countries around the world.

Greenhouse table tennis coach, Simon Hoang, who accompanied the girls on the trip, said: “It was a really great trip with very hard matches. We drew Greece and Israel in the groups, losing to Israel at a tight 3-4.

“The deciding match was quite intense losing 2-3 in sets and losing 1-6 against a very strong Greece team. The girls finished 15th beating the host girls’ team, Italy, 4-0 in matches for the 15/16th play-off.

“In the individual event, both Harriet and Sayeeda lost in the 2nd round with Harriet losing to a French national team player 1-3. Anjum beat a Bulgarian girl 3-2 in the first round but went on to lose to a Chinese Taipei player 0-3.

“It was a fantastic achievement for the girls to be chosen as the best in the country and to represent England against the world. Most importantly we all really enjoyed our trip and gained valuable playing experience at such a high level international event. ”

Harefield Academy beat the host nation, Italy, 6-1 on the opening day before going on to beat Greece by a huge 7-0. On day two they lost to the German team, the 3rd seed, before drawing with Poland 3-3.

After securing the last quarter-final place the team faced the strongest team, the Chinese Taipei, and lost. Danny was named ‘Man of the Match’ after overpowering Luxenburg’s number two before the team narrowly lost to Turkey.

Despite all the challenging games Harefield secured 6th place in the overall rankings, the second best position achieved by an English national team since the competition began.

It was a big weekend for football across the city with one of the closest battles ensuing between Greenhouse Bethwin FC teams at Crystal Palace Stadium.

In a match of high drama, which went to extra time, the Under 17 “Colts” team beat the Under 18s team 5-4 to win the FA’s London Saturday Youth Cup.

The Under 17s, came back from 2-0 down at half-time, scoring 2 goals to bring the game level at full-time. And despite the power and skill of the Under 18s, the Under 17s scored 3 more goals to clinch victory.

U17s Coach Anthony Emmanuel, said: “It was a really well deserved victory. Both of the Under 18′s goals in the first half came from headers and aerial threat. At half time I told the players to stick to their brand of football ‘the BB’ , to not just beat the older players but do it in a beautiful way. They stuck to their phases of play, keeping possession and showed real passion and skill.

“In extra time our goalkeeper suffered an injury and I thought he’d have to come off, but he and the team battled on and were ecstatic when they won.  It was hard meeting one of our own Bethwin teams in the final as the Under 18s played a great game and are a really good side.”

Greenhouse table tennis players from London Academy showed their amazing skills at the English Schools Table Tennis Championships National Finals 2012.

The U13 boys team retained their English Schools Trophy while the U16 boys team narrowly missed out on the title coming runner-up to arch rival Harefield from Hertfordshire.

Here the Deputy Principal at London Academy gives us his account of the dramatic finals…….

“On a fog filled early Saturday morning, ten boys from London Academy left Edgware, for the voyage up the M1 to Hinckley in Leicestershire. Hinckley played a prominent role in the English civil war, and on Saturday it again played host to battles of a different kind.

Table Tennis teams that had been victorious through a number of district then regional competitions throughout the country concluded their sporting journeys here. Teams represented Merseyside, Lincolnshire, Cumbria, Cleveland and Somerset among others.

London Academy had two teams in the finals. The under 16 and 13 boys teams. Both teams had won their respective categories in the London finals and then again in Bournemouth, to secure the South England championships.

The under 16 boys team were Gabriel, Charlie ,Karim , and Musa. The under 13 boys team were Omar, Nathan ,Arbi, Kareem, Luke and Bor.

Managed by their dedicated Greenhouse coach Bhavin Savjani and ably supported by Head of Physical Education Jamie Robertson, hard fought victories were secured against Guthlaxton College Leicestershire and Kings School Lincolnshire in the early rounds.

Encouraged by the arrival of the Academy Principal Angela Trigg, next to taste defeat were fellow Greenhouse school, Burlington Danes in Hammersmith, the South England runners up and Calday Grange Grammer from West Kirby. It was here that Kareem played an astonishing set of games, and had the whole arena transfixed on this single match.

On to the ultimate set of matches London Academy met their arch rival Harefield from Hertfordshire, in the under 16 section. With games going to form Charlie excelled and the Academy took an early advantage. Harefield then secured a victory in the final match to level. With all games equal, the winner is decided on the number of sets won. The Academy lost by 1 set to secure the runner up position.

In the under 13 division, the Academy were up against Dronfield Henry Fanshawe School, Derbyshire. In a clean sweep of games, London Academy lifted the English Schools trophy retaining the title won last year.

Although all the boys were magnificent in their attitude, commitment and resilience throughout the competition which began last September, special mention must go to Luke, a squad player who stepped in for the finals, in place of Kareem, the under 13 number 2 seed, who dislocated his arm playing football last week.”

S.M.Hastings. Deputy Principal.

Over the last three days (3,4,5 April) they gathered at St Paul’s Boys School in west London, the site of Greenhouse’s first sports programme, for G10, a fun-filled sports and performing arts event.

One of the largest sporting events of its kind, Greenhouse participants were able to try lots of different Olympic sports including athletics coached by Great Britain’s No 2 high jumper, Samson Oni, who is set to compete in the Olympics.

With the London 2012 Games just months away, each day started with a flag flying opening ceremony and special choreographed dance performance.

Throughout the day the young people, including those with learning and physical disabilities, had the chance to try basketball, football, table tennis, judo and swimming alongside taster sessions in fencing, tennis and fives.

The close of each day saw a closing ceremony and the cutting of a Greenhouse G10 birthday cake.

Michael de Giorgio, Greenhouse Chief Executive, said: “G10 was a fantastic event. Organising something of this scale, with so many of our young people and with the London Games just around the corner seemed the only way to celebrate our 10th birthday.

“Being back on the site of our first sports programme makes it all the more special. Back then we only had 15 teenagers, now we reach around 10,000.

“G10 allowed us to celebrate with our most important guests, our amazing and talented young people and coaches which is what Greenhouse is all about.”

All the participants were also be presented with a commemorative medal from the day with Gold, Silver and Bronze presentations in each sport.

SEE A VIDEO OF OUR BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS