The Secret Garden

Autumn is here and the much needed rain for the soil! Also, fruit trees are now showering us with abundance. At ‘Grounded Community’ we get many kind donations from allotments and gardens in the area. We love this and so do those we supply food boxes too. This year we are looking to go a step further.

In October half term we are planning a Food Canteen Pilot. We have run zero waste meals before, but this is different. We will be offering 80-100 people from the local Boscombe area a meal, eat in or takeaway, 4 nights that week. This will be open to all but have a focus on those who can’t cook for themselves or can’t afford to at this time. People can donate between £1 and £4 for a meal. We can also take donations for a subsidised meal for someone.

This will be held at the New Food Bank Cafe at St Georges in Boscombe where we are employing a great head chef and a number of other volunteers that will help us cook up some amazing creative meals using food donated to us. We will of course be using some of our own garden produce grown by our volunteers at The Secret Garden. I know others like ‘Nourish Community’ at Hurn, will also donate produce too.

What we really want to see is people eating together and our community being able to feed itself with fresh healthy produce. Many schemes exist to help people cook, Like ‘The Friendly Food Club’ and ‘Food Bank’. This is fantastic and people need the skills, but we have built an individual and isolated approach to eating. Many cultures around the world cook and eat together, in fact one or two cooks may cook for 15-40 people every day. In our culture of waste, our canteen idea could really make a difference. Joining in with our meal will give those with low skill or low income a great meal four nights that week. This will reduce waste, food miles, packaging and increase connectedness, resourcefulness and nutrition for those fed.

People can help by joining in, preparing meals, donating food or funds or telling others who may benefit from this. Our hope is that after the pilot and evaluation many will be able to run these meals in their small communities. You could do this in your street. We hope we will be able to make this a regular food space for 50 people or more each evening. There will be great need, even food shortage in the coming years, so we need to reimagine, food, eating and community. Get growing and stay Grounded!

For more information, or to donate visit www.groundedcommunity.co.uk

Thanks, Michael

Michael French - Grounded Community Projects Coordinator

Alcohol Awareness Week 18 - 25th November 2022

Help to stop drinking with no waiting lists or referrals

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has been helping alcoholics worldwide to recover from alcoholism since 1935. In 2022, AA Great Britain will celebrate its 75-year anniversary. During that time, AA has supported thousands of people to re-establish relationships with themselves and others.

The Theme of Alcohol Awareness Week from 18 - 25 November 2022 is ‘Change’. AA’s 2020 membership survey found that there are over 4.2 million attendances at AA meetings each year in the UK . For the first time, the majority of AA members, 55%, have been in the fellowship for over 10 years and current membership is 53% male and 47% female, the highest proportion of females recorded in an AA GB survey. The majority of AA members, 58%, are in full-time employment with 26% retired.

The 2020 survey results support the findings of the Cochrane Report that AA is as effective, if not more so, than other established treatments.

AA is free, confidential and available to anyone who is worried about their drinking. Crucially, there are no waiting lists or referrals and local meetings take place daily in Bournemouth and the surrounding areas, as well as across Dorset and the rest of the UK. Using a proven recovery programme and the support of others who have stayed sober, AA is ready to help you or someone you may know who is experiencing problems with alcohol.

They can contact Alcoholics Anonymous today and speak to someone who has been where they are and is ready to help locally on 01202 296000 or the national helpline on 0800 917 7650. Or visit the AA website: www.alcoholics-anonymous. org.uk for more information about AA, the Chat Now service and how to find a meeting.