Kid groups/meet-ups

We've been living in London for about four months now. It so different from the US in respects to their ability to make any friends. We lived in a neighborhood in the States with lots of kids to play with and now we live on a small street with no kids at all. They were allocated to schools about six miles from our home so the friends they have made in school are far. I was wondering if anyone has suggestions on how to help my kids make friends. Although there's tons to do in London to keep them busy (touristy stuff), I know they miss having friends just to play with. Can anyone suggest groups or activities in the W5 area for older kids? I know there are baby groups but my kids are 7 and 12.

Thanks  

I'm having a similar issue. I'm homeschooling my kids for the remainder of this school year since we just moved over a little over a month ago. We're in the Canary Wharf/Poplar area. My kids are 12, 8 and 8. Have you looked into scouting for your kids? Mine were involved in the US so I'm trying to get them started up in troops here. I don't know how else for them to meet anyone at this point.

the Netmums website (not to be confused with Mumsnet) has listings of local things to do/groups/classes for kids

www.netmums.com