Wimbledon rolls out the red carpet for an international film festival
Plus: What happens now that the All England Club's plans have been greenlit?
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It’s been an interesting week for Wimbledon. Autumn has hit SW19 like a freight train with recent rains, winds and wintry chills. We’ve also had news about the All England Club’s proposed developments on Wimbledon Park, the opening of a council-led community fund and this year’s annual Wimbledon Short Film Festival at the Polka Theatre.
In this week’s newsletter, we’ve got plenty of dazzling recommendations, from film awards to art classes, as well as your usual news snippets and a rather dashing property of the week. We also spoke to Sophia Lorimer, the powerhouse behind Wimbledon’s Sustainable Fashion Week, and we’ve even got a segment on several local authors speaking at this year’s Wimbledon BookFest.
Send in your photos of the week, comment below and recommend The Wimble for your chance to win prizes from our leaderboard.
Get in touch: zak@thewimble.com.
News snippets 🗞
🎾 City Hall has approved the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s (AELTC) plans to build 39 new tennis courts on Wimbledon Park. The hearing took place last week where the Deputy Mayor of London Jules Pipe said that the proposed developments would have “significant benefits” for the community and economy of Wimbledon. Deborah Jevans, chair of the AELTC, told BBC Sport that “if everything falls into place … we could see tennis balls being hit on that site between 2030 and 2033.” The expansion would also mean that the Championships run for three weeks in Wimbledon, rather than having the first qualifying week take place in Roehampton. Of course, not everyone is delighted: Save Wimbledon Park released a statement with a clear message: “The fight still goes on.”
🗳 Merton Council opens bidding for 2024 Civic Pride neighbourhood and climate action funds. Residents, community groups and local organisations are encouraged to enter their proposals over the next five weeks. In their statement, the Council wrote that “these funds represent the council’s ongoing commitment to building a more resilient, sustainable, and vibrant borough.” There are two funds: the first has a total of £750,000 available with the objective to “support projects that address demands placed on neighbourhoods by new development, such as housing, and improve local areas.” The second will pay an annual sum of £166,000 for three years (2023-25) to support “community-led initiatives aimed at reducing carbon emissions or building resilience to the impacts of climate change.”
🥇 The winners of the Merton Best Business Awards were announced last month. There were 16 award categories on the night — check out the full list of winners here. Keen readers of The Wimble might have recognised a few of the winners and runners-up:
Friarwood Wines won the award for Best Online Retailer — read our piece about their shop in the Village here, which also happened to be The Wimble’s first interview!
Bombay Delight won the award for Hospitality Business of the Year — read our interview with owner Ajay Chaurasia here.
Polka Theatre won several awards including the top spot for Best Business in Merton — check out my review of The Colour of Dinosaurs which ran at the Polka earlier this year.
Property of the week 🏡
This five-bedroom semi-detached house is a stunner. It’s got off-street parking, two stations within walking distance and a wraparound garden to host as many parties and barbecues as one could wish for. Though not cheap, this £925,000 property is still one of Wimbledon’s more “affordable” houses. I’m particularly fond of the bedroom with the French doors; you could wake up and walk straight out onto the patio with a coffee — what bliss! Check out more details here.
‘This year we did it all’: Wimbledon’s Sustainable Fashion Week 👗
Wimbledon Sustainable Fashion Week (SFW) wrapped up on the 22nd of September. This week, I sat down with the effortlessly cool Sophia Lorimer, co-founder and creative director of Wimbledon SFW. Apart from being an award-winning stylist, Sophia is also the owner of Fine-Tuned Wardrobe, a personal styling business that focuses on sustainability and helping people to rediscover their style and bring joy to their everyday life. Check out her website here and scroll through Sophia’s Instagram for highlights. Photos courtesy of Wimbledon SFW and the rest of their team.
Z: Ok, first things first, Sophia, what is Sustainable Fashion Week all about?
S: Sustainable Fashion Week is all about engaging with the community and showing them that fashion isn’t an exclusive thing. We want to make sure that everyone is included and that sustainable fashion isn’t seen as mundane or boring; it’s vibrant, fun and a real creative outlet for everyone to explore.
How has SFW changed over the last three years?
It’s really grown! We launched at a very tricky time. The Queen died in the run-up to our first SFW, so we couldn’t market or do anything that we wanted to do. It was much smaller than we anticipated. The Quarter, which was then known as Centre Court, wasn’t as vibrant or as accessible as it is now. Our second year was still relatively small and not many people knew about it but we were adamant that we could make it bigger and better. This year we did it all. Everything we had hoped for was achieved: workshops, activities for children, the catwalk. We wanted to turn it into a destination where people could stay all day, and that’s what we did.
Talk me through how you choose the designers.
I start looking for designers around January time, although I have already started scouting designers for next year’s SFW. I’m all about showcasing something different, something that the general public might not have seen before, something that gets them thinking differently about sustainability. I want clothes that pack a punch and that are ready to be worn. It’s all very good going to London Fashion Week and seeing all of these avant-garde outfits, but you’re not going to wear those pieces to Sainsbury’s or on your school run. I pick designers with sustainable and accessible brands — clothes that anyone can wear.
Has championing women in fashion always been the focal point of SFW?
Sustainable Fashion Week is a huge movement [a movement that has spread across the UK and beyond]. However, we started our SFW at the same time that the movement launched and so we chose to go it alone in terms of creative direction and ambitions, which makes it even more special for us. And because we’re under the umbrella of Go Inspire, our SFW is all about female empowerment and inspiring women. We really want to champion women who might be working from home at the kitchen table with three or four children around them to build a business. We want to give a space to those women and give them an opportunity to leverage their business.
I know that it’s hard to pick a “best moment” but do you have a particular highlight from this year’s SFW?
One thing that makes me so emotional is when members of the public come up to me and say something like “I’ve never seen anything like that, that was amazing!” This year we had a lot of people coming for the first time. When I started a show, I’d call out on the microphone for people to put their hands up if this was their first SFW and practically everyone put their hands up for each show. The feedback was just so heartwarming.
One moment sticks out which did literally make me cry. On the last day, we invited members of the public to come onto the catwalk and everyone had a go, from parents to children. There was this one elderly lady — she’s quite well known in Wimbledon — who started dancing and I was dancing too. So, we started dancing together and then she got out these pictures of her husband and these places and things she used to do when she was younger. I thought it was amazing that she felt comfortable enough to share all of it with me and I think that’s because she felt so seen and heard. This is what an event like SFW can do for the community: it can bring people together in such a beautiful way when there’s so much chaos and noise in the world around us.
Why is sustainable fashion so important?
My ethos is about emboldening people to wear their values, and sustainable fashion can offer you that. If you want to see a better world then you have to embody it, you have to be that person who does better. By better, I don’t mean you need to sell your wardrobe and buy sustainable brands; I just mean that you need to think about what you want and why you want it. Is it that you want to know who made your clothes? Is it that you want to buy clothes of a better quality that are also more sustainable? Is it that you want to slow your shopping down and come up with new ways to wear what you already have? Or is it that you have clothes in your wardrobe that you want to repair and upcycle? The key for a show like Wimbledon’s SFW is to get you thinking differently and wearing your values. Maybe there’s a sewing club in your area or a mend and fix — finding these groups and people are ways to start wearing what you believe in.
And lastly, what’s next for Wimbledon SFW?
We’re on a mission to get more sponsorship to make SFW bigger and better. It’s really important for us to get our message out there because that’s the only way we can grow the movement and get more people involved. I really wanted a children’s catwalk this year but time ran away from us. I’m determined to make that happen next year.
The Wimbe’s to do list 🎯
🎬 Wimbledon International Short Film Awards Night — get yourself down to the Polka Theatre this Saturday for a screening of short films from around the globe. The films have been shortlisted from over 300 international entries, with categories including, but not limited to, animation, drama, comedy, documentary and environmental film. You’ll also have the chance to vote for your favourite film at the end of the night for The Audience Award. Head here to book your tickets.
Where: Polka Theatre
When: Saturday 5th October, 6:30 PM - 10:00 PM
🐶 Wimbledon Guild Waggy Walk — the community charity’s annual canine fundraiser is taking place this Saturday. The Guild, which has supported over 3,400 individuals across the Borough of Merton this year, is inviting residents for a 4k-7k walk around Wimbledon Common to raise funds for its various charitable projects. Don’t worry if you don’t have a dog, the Guild is also running a “sociable walk” at midday where anyone can join to meet people and do their bit for the community. Book your tickets here.
Where: Meet at the Hand in Hand, 6 Crooked Billet, Wimbledon Common
When: Saturday 5th October, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
🎨 Drawing with Miguel — join professional artist Miguel Galue Piqueras this weekend for another fantastic Wimbledon Quarter Workshop. This week’s session will focus on the basics of portrait and still-life drawing in colour and charcoal. No experience is required and all materials (as well as some complimentary snacks) will be provided. Tickets are £15 — grab them here.
Where: Wimbledon Quarter Courtyard
When: Saturday 5th October, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
🍺 Pub Quiz at The Dog & Fox — no week is complete without a pub quiz. Head up to the Village next Wednesday to alleviate those mid-week blues. You know the score: bring some friends, get a few rounds in and remember to put on your thinking caps before the quiz starts.
Where: The Dog & Fox
When: Wednesday 9th October, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
The Wimbledon authors to look out for at this year’s BookFest 📚
This year’s BookFest will feature a variety of authors with connections to Wimbledon. Here are several authors to look out for (we’ll promote more in the coming weeks).
Aliya Ali-Afzal — The Big Day
Afzal, a Wimbledon resident, will be speaking alongside Kate Sawyer at this year’s BookFest. Both Afzal’s The Big Day and Sawyer’s This Family dissect one of life’s strangest and most important occasions: weddings. Both authors will discuss their books, their characters and their journeys into the world of literature. Book your ticket here.
Lawrence Freedman — Command
Join historians Lawrence Freedman (another local resident) and Andrew Roberts for a discussion on the future of warfare, what we can learn from past conflicts and how nations can protect themselves in future battles. Book your tickets here and pick up Freedman’s Command if you have a keen interest in the politics of modern warfare.
Marianna Spring — Among the Trolls: My Journey Through Conspiracy
Wimbledon-born Marianna Spring is the BBC’s first disinformation and social media correspondent, and one of journalism’s brightest stars. Her recent book, Among the Trolls, is an investigation into conspiracy theories and an honest attempt to understand why people believe the things that they do. Join her in conversation with Justin Webb, co-presenter of the Today Show, to hear about the power of disinformation, the dangers of investigating fringe movements and the role that social media plays in spreading fact and fiction. Book your tickets here.
Question of the week 🔍
Last week I asked you which Wimbledon-born actress played Princess Margaret in The Crown. The answer: Vanessa Kirby.
Q: Which famous actor — whose credits include Dorian Gray, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Punisher — is an alumnus of King’s College School, Wimbledon?
You’re up to date 👋
Thanks for reading this week! Please reach out with any questions, ideas, scoops or suggestions: zak@thewimble.com. Don’t forget to share and subscribe if you haven’t already. Have a great rest of the week and I’ll see you next Thursday. Bye-bye!