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| Work starts ar St Raphael's Edible Garden |
From Sufra NW London
Today Marks & Spencer launches a national campaign called
Spark Something Good,
which aims to encourage people to take action for social good. Over the
next 24 hours, 24 projects across the capital will be transformed – and
the derelict site on St. Raphael’s Estate is one of these projects.
Across the day, M&S employees will be joined by our own volunteers,
as well as volunteers from Sudbury Town Resident’s Association and Brent
Housing Partnership to clean up the site, build raised beds and plant
the first seeds of what will become one of the largest communal food
growing spaces in North-West London. We do aim high, don’t we!
It’s going to be a manic day, with volunteers working onsite till 10pm
tonight. For regular updates on what’s happening on site, make sure you
follow us on
Twitter.
Fruit & Vegetable Collection Pilot
On the subject of food growing, tenants at Birchen Grove and Bridge Road
allotments will notice that some unusually bright yellow bins have
appeared on site. Across August and September we’re piloting a new
initiative, encouraging allotment-holders to donate fresh produce to the
food bank.
Every year, many tenants find that a successful harvest quickly turns
miserable at the sight of wasted fruit and vegetables, which are surplus
to their need. To reduce food wastage, and ensure that we can help
vulnerable people maintain a healthy diet, we’re offering tenants the
opportunity to share their harvest with Sufra.
Collections from both allotments will be on Tuesday mornings, so it’s
best to pick your harvest as close as possible to the collection day.
There are separate bins for soft and hard fruits/vegetables because
there is nothing more depressing than an overgrown marrow landing
head-first on a pile of tomatoes.
And Fahim will not be impressed, when he has to clean out the bins. Please don’t upset Fahim.
Summer Academy
Keeping with the food growing theme, we’ve had a lot of enquiries about
our Summer Academy, an intergenerational project that celebrates food
growing and experimental cooking. Each session includes a visit to
Sudbury Court Drive Allotment where participants harvest fresh produce
(courtesy of Michael and Patrick’s frantic efforts since early February)
and return to Sufra to cook a delicious meal.
What’s more, there are no chefs and no recipes! It’s truly experimental
and a chance for people to learn cooking skills from one another. Or
watch, and be entertained. The Summer Academy is open to young people
aged 11-19 years and older people aged 60+ years... but we’re happy to
slip in a few eager beavers. You can attend as many or as few sessions
as you like, so why not give it a try?
The sessions run from 10am to 4pm on: Tuesday 4 August, Thursday 6
August, Tuesday 11 August and Thursday 13 August. To take part, download
a Registration Form
here. There are no spaces remaining on the first session (sorry, but you should have registered early!).
Food Academy for Young Carers
Sometimes experimental cooking doesn’t quite hit the mark!
We know that many young people who care for a disabled or unwell parent
or sibling, often face the challenge of having to cook for the family.
In partnership with Brent Carers Centre, we’re organising a special
week-long Food Academy for young carers from Monday 24 August to Friday
28 August.
Across the week, young carers will learn how to cook 10 different
dishes, as part of an accredited certificate in cooking. We’ve also
thrown in a visit to King’s Cross Skip Garden (we’re really getting into
this food growing malarkey) and a workshop on healthy eating run by a
nutritionist. Participants who complete the accredited outcomes will be
treated to a night out at Jimmy’s Restaurant at Wembley Outlet Centre to
sample a world buffet.
If you know a young carer who would benefit from the course, get in touch or download a Registration Form
here.
