June 2024
The start of Summer at Green Meadows
To kick-start an exciting month, Green Meadows are here with the latest updates. From developments at Victoria Primary School’s community garden to a trip to Hockerton Housing Project, lots of exciting things have been happening in all different areas of the community.
Keep reading to find out more.
Victoria Primary School's Community Garden Takes Shape!
Victoria Primary School has launched its community garden initiative, with two new planters now flourishing on a previously unused plot of land outside the school gates.
The planters, a joint effort between pupils and parents, came to life during a series of after-school drop-in sessions where everyone pitched in to build and start planting.
The planters were filled using the HugelKultur method, which allows plants to thrive by re-circulating carbon and nutrients back into the soil. To further enrich the soil, the planters were topped up with compost made in the Forest School area and in the community compost bins.
Currently focusing on natural resources as part of their Green Meadows curriculum, Year 6 pupils took a hands-on approach to learning about compost and the importance of looking after natural resources like soil and water.
The plants were chosen and added by pupils, including herbs that will be used by themselves, their family, and the wider community.
Trip to Hockerton Housing Project
Organised by Julian (MOZES), Green Meadows took a bus full of Meadows residents to visit Hockerton Housing Project, which is a community of sustainable homes, built from a self-reliant housing co-op established 28 years ago. During the visit, the group learned about different methods of sustainable development, such as water filtering and storage, growing crops, keeping animals for food, renewable energy, building energy efficient housing and how to organise as a community.
Our Green Learning Coordinator Hannah attended. She said, “As a Meadows resident I found learning about their amazing achievements to overcome problems and creatively design an alternative way of living very inspirational.”
Looking to explore other community projects? Join us on a day trip to Todmorden, where you'll learn about the inspiring Incredible Edible project. We’ll see first hand how the Todmorden community have came together to grow their own food, running two communal meals a month and transforming areas of the town into vibrant community gardens and allotments.
Make do and Mend
Due to popular demand, last month we hosted a second Mend and Make Do workshop at the Climate Hub.
This workshop is relaxed, drop-in style. You bring the items you want to repair, grab a cuppa, and get 1-2-1 help from one of the experts:
Jude, a local artist who brought some wonderful examples of her knits and embroidery. Jude is an expert in darning too!
Kirpal (Kay), a sewing teacher at the Queens Walk Community Centre and born in the Meadows. Kay is an expert in alterations and making items from scratch.
and Jolanta, a resident and frequent workshop attendee. Jolanta used to be a seamstress back in her home country, Poland, so it was great to have her assistance in all types of mending skills.
This time, it was nice to see some of the community members passing on their freshly learnt skills to others. Another attendee decided to dig into the scrap fabric and make a new bag as they had finished repairing their items. Very impressed
As we do in all Eat & learn events, we enjoyed a hot meal cooked using the low energy Cook-in-a-Box method and chatted about what skills we want to learn at the next Mend and Make Do on September 21st.
Meadows Climate Resilience Tools Outreach and Workshop
The Meadows Climate Resilience Tools project (MCRT) is being run by the architectural practice FROMTHEGROUNDUP for Green Meadows and MOZES. The aim is to design and create tools that will help make residents and communities in the Meadows more resilient to the impacts of Climate Change.
Initial workshop: kick-started with a workshop where Meadows residents shared their issues, desires, and potential solutions related to climate resilience.
Identifying potential tools: FROMTHEGROUNDUP identified 16 possible tools based on residents input.
Community engagement: The team took the project to the streets, gathering opinions from over 70 Meadows residents to ensure the tools reflected the needs and wants of all.
Voting and selection: Residents voted for their top 3 or suggested new ideas, and the top tools were selected, including a Youth Club, market, street planters, communal BBQs, game furniture, and street parties.
Presentation to residents: The selected tools were presented back to the Meadows residents at a workshop on July 1st.
What’s next?
FROMTHEGROUNDUP have now put together a proposal on what these tools could be and how they will be prototyped over the next year.
E.g. the planters will not only add greenery to the streets but also incorporate water reservoirs to reduce the demand on the drainage systems and automatically water flowers or veggies.
The tools will be designed so residents can make them themselves in workshops or from a guide, and will use reclaimed and natural materials where possible. This way, everyone can get involved!
Designing and making the prototypes will be done with teenagers from the Meadows in 2 to 3 day holiday clubs.
If you know young people who are eager to get involved, please contact us or call 0115 718 2028.
We can’t wait to see the tools come to life!
