We launched our Living Well Initiative on Bonfire Night at the cafe we run each Friday at the Jersey Farm Community Centre.
The event included a display on ‘Enjoying Nature’ (pictured) in which we are exploring the joy and comfort gardens and gardening can bring us.
As part of this we are developing close links with and promoting three local gardening organisations: the National Garden Scheme Hertfordshire, St Albans Gardeners’ Forum and Blessed Earth. We were delighted that representatives from two of the organisations could attend our launch event, as did two budding young garden designers, pictured hard at work on a planting scheme!
The event also included an information point with links to Citizens Advice on broader ‘Living Well’ issues and a collection point for a local food bank. These will continue to feature at the cafe each Friday in the coming months, as will the display itself, albeit this will change each week, not least as church members and visitors are encouraged to contribute pictures of plants from their own gardens. We plan in the New Year to explore the theme of ‘Enjoying Creativity’ with pictures of a remarkable doll’s house made by a church member.