During December, we were busy getting in the festive mood, and rounding up our Green Meadows activities for the year. This year was a great one and we’re excited for what 2025 holds, thank you to everybody who got involved last year and we can’t wait to get stuck in!

Keep reading to find out how we closed the year and what we have in store.

Eat and Learn - Cook-in-a-box

In December, we had the last cook-in-a-box session of the year, ran by Tiger Community CIC.

What is cook-in-a-box? It’s basically an insulated box that acts as a slow cooker with very little energy. Just put the lid on your pot of food, bring the boil on a hob and then pop it into your insulated box for 1, 2, 3 or even 4 hours. The food will keep cooking! You can leave the house and get on with your day while your one pot wonder cooks away.

Make your own box at home and download a recipe book from our Knowledge Bank here.

We had great fun decorating the boxes too!

The Second Love the Meadows Action Day

The second Love the Meadows community action day was brilliant. We are so grateful to all the residents that showed up and took part despite the weather!

Crocus Fields Respite Care centre planted daffodil bulbs, St Saviours church joined in for some litter picking and everybody else planted up all 13 hanging baskets in the Bridgeway Centre.

When speaking to the businesses in the Bridgeway Centre about the action days, many of them pointed out the empty hanging baskets. We were happy to add some more colour to the area, and pollinators will be happy too!

We then sheltered from the storm, had a delicious pea and leek soup and discussed a timeline for actions days in 2025. Expect berry bushes, community orchards, raised beds for veg and colourful painted murals. Watch this space!

Get involved!

The next Action Day is the 4th January, we’ll be planting raspberry and thornless blackberry bushes in the Bridgeway Centre, perfect for foraging.

Take part in the making of the next Light Night installation at St Mary's Church!

On the 11th January, MORTLOCK ARTS will be hosting a Garden Sounds Workshop at Arkwright Meadows Community Garden 1-3pm.

The objective of this fun, friends and family-oriented workshop is to record sounds and visuals of nature through plant-life and pond-life alike. Delving into a variety of sound textures which address agricultural and horticultural activities.

The outcomes of the workshop will be weaved into a sound composition and multi-media installation, premiering in the midlands at Nottingham Light Night 2025.

Come and join in - no registration necessary!

Meadows DIY Club!

The DIY Club is a network of residents who want to share their existing skills to do personal or community DIY projects. A kick-off meeting was held on the 5th of December to discuss aims and details as a group.

We started by sharing which DIY skills members already had. There was a massive breadth of skills around the table. From dressmaking to bricklaying. A very exciting start to the club!

If you are interested, complete this survey to have your say on the next steps - we hope to see you in 2025!

What do you think about the Toolshare?

Have you registered to use the Toolshare yet? If not, why not?

We’re running a survey to find out how to make the service as good as it can be.

If you have used the Toolshare, what do you think of the tools? What do you think of the website or opening hours? Any suggestions, maybe for tools you’d like to be able to borrow?

Please can you give us some feedback by using the short survey here to tell us if you think it’s great or to help us work out how to make it even better.

Did you know it’s free to register and borrow tools for Meadows’ residents, with a refundable deposit and relevant ID? If you haven’t registered yet, please come and take a look here.

We have paperback copies Insulation Guides for Victorian homes

We have paperback insulation guides available for free, to those interested in carrying out insulation on their Victorian Property.

Starting insulation works can be daunting. To offer in-person advice and answer any questions, a member of our team can bring round a copy of the guide, give you an overview of the book, and if you’d like, do a walk through of the house to advise on insulation and additional saving measures that’d be suitable.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, we have an online Insulation Guide, where you can make a personalised guide based on the details of your own home. Check it out!

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