We recently realised a vision we have had for some time and held our first Wellness event at the Community Garden. Volunteers led a small group in Yoga, QiGong, Ecstatic Dance, Meditation and Mindfulness practices. Guests also enjoyed Reiki treatments and massage with the beautiful Weleda products.

Thanks to volunteers, handmade Tipis were put up around the garden for treatments and areas for quiet contemplation. Blankets, throws, cushions and books were placed around the garden and added to the relaxed vibe of the day.

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The group were treated to a delicious homemade plant based lunch made by volunteers Lynsey, Christina and Kay using some of the produce from the garden.

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Our first Wellness event couldn’t have gone any better and the feedback was fantastic. Just some include:

Just to say thank you for a wonderful day. I enjoyed every minute. Great relaxing sessions, delicious food and lovely company. No room for any improvement!

I wasn’t sure what to expect on booking but certainly wasn’t disappointed. I found the whole day relaxing, informative and had lots of ideas to take away and use for myself. Journaling – a good reminder on benefits and nicely laid out booklet that I plan to use. Relax/yoga – lovely intro to the day. I had reiki and massage, both of which were a lovely addition to the day and relaxing. Lunch – what an amazing spread! Delicious. Qigong – fab intro to it. Would have liked to do more. Meditation – lovely end to the day, I’m sure I heard some snoring! The group size was comfortable and everyone was lovely. Thanks for letting me know about it, it felt that a lot of thought and planning had gone into the day.

We are already planning more Wellness events for 2023 and will share information once details are finalised.

To celebrate the national Green Week, SEAG have hosted a series of events during the week 18 – 26 September 2021. We kicked off with a Beekeeping demonstration at the Community Garden, then on to a Community Litter Pick, Maintenance of Shipley Wood Entrance, Moonlight Walk in Shipley Woods and finished off with a Family Volunteer Day and Clothes Swap at the Community Garden.

It was a busy week for our volunteers but the events were so much fun to organise and be part of and they had a great turn out.

The walk in Shipley Woods was something quite special as it isn’t often that we walk through the Woods in the dark and if we do, probably not with the intention of stopping, listening and observing the nature around us. In a large group, this was a delightful, safe way of experiencing the Woods in the dark and we had a real mix of ages come out. We were also fortunate to hear the Tawny Owl throughout the walk and the bat detector picked up signs of bats.

The Beekeeping demonstration was popular as always. It is hard to describe what is so appealing about Honeybees – they really are fascinating and amazing creatures and we are so pleased to have hives at the Community Garden.

We held our first Clothes Swap in ‘Shedquarters’ at the Community Garden. People came with a maximum of 5 items of clothing and shoes, received tokens and swapped for something else. Anything left at the end was taken to local Charity Shops. Although we would have liked to have seen more people at this event, it was a great way to spend a couple of hours and there were lots of successful swaps. We will definitely be holding more of these in the Spring and Summer. They are a fantastic way of keeping clothes out of landfill and a fun way of changing your wardrobe up!

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We have finally been able to host our first event at the Community Garden on 29 May 2021 since we first welcomed local residents to the launch party in September 2019.

We were joined by Weleda based in Ilkeston sharing information about their natural organic products and demonstrating Bee Bomb making. Derbyshire Wildlife Trust came and demonstrated Bushcrafts and Campfire making. Derby Kids Camp were present and we had talks throughout the day on Beekeeping from the garden’s resident Beekeeper, Butterflies at the Butterfly Bank by the Derbyshire Conservation Officer, Transition Town and Beeswax wraps making.

Children’s story telling took place in the teepee which was such a beautiful moment and the natural play area, led by our enthusiastic volunteers went down extremely well with the children and adults!

We had live bands who volunteered their time to come and play for us. Free seeds giveaway and a Raffle.

Refreshments and homemade cakes were for sale and special thanks goes to Shipley WI and Derby Lodge Tea Rooms for their generous cake donations. A beautiful selection of plants grown by volunteers and donations were also sold.

‘Shedquarters’ was officially opened by Councillor Richard Iliffe and hosted quality crafts for sale made by volunteers and stalls from Forever Living Aloe Vera, personalised wooden products and Words in Wood.

The sun was shining for us and the day couldn’t have gone any better. It was such a magical moment to finally realise the the vision of the garden being enjoyed by so many people . We came away with lots of ideas to make next year’s festival even bigger and better – if that is even possible!

Thank you to all those that helped make this day happen and came along.

With this being a milestone for the Community Garden, this video has been put together by SEAG member Graham Kearton to celebrate the occasion.

Listen to our Kay being interviewed by Ollie Darvill on Erewash Sound this week, talking about the creation of SEAG and the Shipley Woodside Community Garden project – didn’t she do well! Well done Kay.