A new home for Busy Buttons
Victorian church will be new base for charity
A Windsor charity has spoken of its delight after securing a new home in Clewer.
Busy Buttons CORE charity founders Louella and Lautaro Lempiäinen told the Express they were ‘excited’ to relocate from their design studio in Windsor town centre to St Agnes Church in Clewer this month.
The volunteer-led charity supports children from lowincome families, and those with anxiety and special educational needs, with creative holiday programmes and school workshops.
Chair, Louella FernandezLempiäinen said: “It’s a different space. It’s a wonderful Victorian church and we are looking forward to using the space the way it is but also adding the Busy Buttons touch.
“The place will be ours now. It’s in the heart of the community.
“Where we were before was in the town centre – it served its purpose and we really made the most of it, and now we think it’s time for a change – there are schools around here, families live here – it’s a very different setting for us.
“Busy Buttons has had to be adaptable to the different places it has been in over the years. It’s nice to see how we can make the most of it.
“This is a listed building so we can’t put a nail to the walls – we must be creative about how we put up stuff.
“It’s been home for seven years to so many – so many memories made and lots of children were sad about it, but we said, ‘We have to look forward and have to make the new place home and it’s going to be wonderful.”
Late last year, Busy Buttons was told to vacate the premises by the end of February and the charity underwent a frantic search for a new home in Windsor in less than three months.
Louella added: “We didn’t know there was a possibility of considering this place [St Agnes Church]. We put a call out there and waited with bated breath.
“I think the [location] will have a significantly positive impact.
“One, it’s in the heart of the community, two it’s near the schools, three is that we’re so close to the Great Park so it’ll be wonderful to have nature walks as wellbeing is such a big part of the Busy Buttons ethos.
“One of the previous setbacks was that we were in the town centre and for children to come to us, they would have to rely on their parents to drive them and that was a deterrent in one way. But now, children can walk to us and we can facilitate them.
“It makes everyone value the space for what it is and work together to be a planned, organised and yet creatively engaging part of the community.”
She said many ‘meaningful life-changing memories were created at Windsor Yards’.
Busy Buttons has launched a clearance sale at its design studio until February 26 for children and adults to browse the collection of craft materials, toys, books, clothes, fabrics, mannequins and retail items.
This ‘everything must go sale’ will support the charity and runs from 11.30am until 7pm daily.
Louella said the big move is a volunteer-led operation and the team has been transporting their belongings to the new premises since February 11.
Lautaro added: “It’s a big undertaking so it’s been overwhelming. Everything is done by volunteers including parents and Duke of Edinburgh students – some as young as three are packing up the Duplo.”
On Monday, students from Eton College also joined in the effort to pack boxes and get things moved to the Clewer church.
St Agnes Church Reverend Rosie Webb added: “The church family in Clewer Parish are deeply embedded in our community, so it is with great pleasure and privilege that we can offer Busy Buttons CORE charity as space to be able to begin their new journey out of the town centre and into the community.
“We pray that they will feel welcomed and at home in St Agnes church."
This week, Windsor Castle has offered the Busy Buttons charity the chance to host a week of classes at the historic site until the new Clewer premises is set up.