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The Oxfam shops on Half Moon Lane are looking for volunteers, especially on Saturdays or Tuesdays. No. 9 sells books and No. 20 sells everything else and it is at No. 20 where volunteers are needed. If you think the shop floor at No. 20 is small, you should see the sorting area! Its modest size and the enthusiasm of local residents to donate is why it has a limit of one bag of donations and a cut-off time of two hours before the shop closes, so that staff have time to sort and price items each day.
Accessories like scarves, handbags and shoes are always in demand and records are popular now that vinyl is back in fashion. Many customers are regulars and some pop in each week. Shoppers check out the clothes rails, buy coffee or pick up an 'Oxfam Unwrapped' card which shows the receiver that £10-£25 has been targeted at women at work or climate justice. Others buy Fairtrade certified chocolate which means that farmers in places such as Ghana are paid a fair price for their crop plus an additional premium.
Dulwich Festival returns 12-21 May 2023 with a full programme of live events that celebrate the arts, culture, history and community of Dulwich. There are walks, talks, concerts, fairs, comedy, exhibitions, artists' open house, picnics, you name it, they have it! Tickets are now on sale via the Festival's website and Eventbrite.
To celebrate the Society's 60th anniversary, the members of the Dulwich Society Executive Committee have great pleasure in inviting you to drinks and canapes at the James Caird Hall, Dulwich College, on Thursday 13 July 2023 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Calista Lucy, Keeper of the Archives at Dulwich College, will guide us around the James Caird, a 23 foot whaler, and tell the astonishing story of when the Polar explorer and Dulwich College alumnus Sir Ernest Shackleton and five companions made an epic open boat voyage of 800 miles from Elephant Island to South Georgia during the Antarctic winter of 1916. Tickets are £20 and are available via Eventbrite. We look forward to seeing you there.
Elms4London, an initiative of the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, has donated another Dutch Elm disease-resistant elm to the Dulwich Society, adding to the four given last year. They have been planted in the Village Orchard, Court Lane Gardens & Belair Park. Elm trees were once an important feature of the Dulwich landscape and are valuable to the life cycle of the White-letter Hairstreak butterfly.
26.2 miles (42km) and 2000 feet (608m) of ascent
13.1 miles (21km) and 1000 feet (304) of ascent
The Dulwich half and full marathon is a personal challenge. It can be walked or run. The route is circular, so although the suggested start is Goose Green, it may be joined at any point. It connects many open spaces around Dulwich, as well as providing spectacular views. For the competitive, the distance for the half marathon is 13.1 miles (21km) with 1000 feet of ascent (304.5m) to be completed within 4.5 hours. Twice around is a full marathon - 26.2 miles and 2000 feet of ascent, to be completed within 9.5 hours.
Download the Route and Points of Interest (PDF)
The Dulwich Festival is looking for new Trustees to join their Board, people who bring experience, enthusiasm and a passion for the arts together with the highest standards of corporate governance.
You will be part of an inspiring team and be fully involved in the festival whilst attending up to six meetings throughout the year and overseeing ad hoc initiatives.
The Dulwich Festival is an annual arts celebration taking place over 10 days in May. Now in its 30th year it attracts over 50,000 visitors with 400 artists and 500 performers.
It aims to be a catalyst for creative opportunities as a means of nurturing a thriving and inclusive community with a commitment to valuing Dulwich and its environment sustainably over time.
If you are interested in finding out more, please contact
Gentle ‘gentrification’ in an area of East Dulwich with Julia Atkins
8pm on Tuesday 4 April 2023
Our next local history online talk will cover current research into a part of East Dulwich. In 1898 Charles Booth surveyed the area of East Dulwich as part of his studies of poverty in London, and defined many streets in East Dulwich as a mix of poverty and comfort.
Into the 1970s housing in East Dulwich, east of Lordship Lane, was approaching 100 years old. One small part of the area was declared a statutory housing action area (HAA) to concentrate resources on improving properties and helping households.
Current research in a small Study Area, including a part of the HAA, looks at the area over time and considers its sustainability for the twenty first century.
About the Speaker
Julia Atkins, now retired, has conducted housing policy research for local, London and national government for over fifty years. She had research responsibility for the Pellatt Road Housing Action Area, when she worked for Southwark Council.
Tickets are £5 and are available from Bell House.
Social Reformers in Dulwich in the late 19th and early 20th Century by Duncan Bowie
8pm on Tuesday 7 March 2023
Our next Dulwich local history online talk will cover birth control and moral hygiene and sex reformers, housing and planning reformers and anti-slavery campaigners, all of whom at one time lived in Dulwich. It will include Annie Besant, Alice Vickery, Havelock Ellis, Ebenezer Howard, Rev. John Harris and Alice Harris and more.
About the Speaker
Duncan Bowie is a research associate at University College London. His most recent book, The Radical and Socialist Tradition in British Planning: From Puritan Colonies to Garden Cities, was published in 2016.
Tickets are £5 and are available from Bell House. All proceeds go to Bell House activities. If you need a free ticket please use the code FreeTicket at the checkout.
Britain on the brink of war! Foreign agents on our shores! Can Richard Hannay, innocent man on the run, evade the police, get the girl, and save the country from a ring of murderous spies? Six plucky actors, who between them will be taking on more than 50 roles, will bring Alfred Hitchcock’s epic cinematic masterpiece to the stage in a visual and emotional feast of drama, villainy, adventure and pure silliness. The production includes the famous chase on the Flying Scotsman train, a scene on the Forth Bridge and the world’s first ever on-stage plane crash. This is a must-see for all ages.
The 39 Steps by The Dulwich Players
Wednesday 19 - Friday 21 April 2023: 7.30pm
Saturday 22 April 2023: 3.30pm and 7.30pm
Great Hall, Alleyn's School, Townley Rd, SE22 8SU
Tickets: £14 Adults, £10 under 18s, from www.dulwichplayers.org (small fee payable)
Southwark 2030: Southwark Council would like your views on how to make where we live, work and study a better place by 2030. There are several ways to participate including a survey, council-run sessions including one at Dulwich Library on 25 February, 10am-1pm, or via local schools.
This is our chance to shape the future of our borough, to help decide the kind of Southwark we want by 2030. There are lots of ways to get involved between now and mid-March when the consultation ends, and more detail can be found here.
The London Wildlife Trust (LWT) would like to hear about your experience in the Great North Wood so that they can continue to improve your experience when visiting the woods. Here in Dulwich, the Great North Wood includes Dulwich Wood, Hitherwood, Sydenham Hill Wood & Cox's Walk and further afield includes One Tree Hill and Crystal Palace Park. Complete LWT's Great North Wood visitor survey here, it should take no more than ten minutes.
Our Wildlife Group would like you to take part in the RSPB's Big Garden Bird Watch, the world's largest garden wildlife survey. In 2022, just under 700,000 people took part. Over the weekend of 27-29 January 2023, taking part in the Big Garden Birdwatch couldn't be easier. You just spend an hour watching the birds in your garden or local park and tell the RSPB what you've seen. If you see very few birds or none at all, that's still useful information, so please let them know. You can register and find out more here. Please also send your sightings to our Wildlife Group at