Big lunch: The perfect ingredients

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Add a handful of community spirit, a sprinkling of food and a big dose of fun to create The Big Lunch on 1st and 2nd June

ll together now, “Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours…” – that’s got you humming away I’ll bet, but it’s very much the key idea behind The Big Lunch.

The scheme launched in 2009 by the Eden Project to bring people together celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and hopes to get even more involved in the simple act of fun and friendship through having lunch with your neighbours.

From that first event which began as one day for people to meet, greet, share, swap, sing, play and laugh, it grew to more than 9.3million people taking part in over 90,000 events all round the country in 2017.

More than just bringing communities together, The Big Lunch, this year on 1st and 2nd June, wants to improve the happiness and wellbeing of people by encouraging them to make positive changes where they live, working with each other and nature, towards a better future.

Whether that be with a few sandwiches in your front garden, a traditional street party or a big community bash, holding a Big Lunch is simple – the main ingredient is you and your neighbours.

The Eden Project has some top tips for planning your Big Lunch:

Choose a venue

Remember if you are planning a street party you’ll need to ask permission from your local council to have the road closed

Pick a date

Most lunches will be held the first weekend in June but you can choose one to suit you

Consider your invites

Think about who you want to ask

Plan the food

Keep it simple, don’t make too much work for yourself, perhaps make it a shared picnic, get everyone to bring a dish and contribute

Make some decorations

This can all be part of the fun of coming together, make bunting out of scraps of material, plastic bags and other bits and pieces

Play music

A simple idea is to get some background music going with a few radios on the same station or if you’re lucky enough to have a musician in your street make the most of it

Get local support

Don’t be afraid to ask local business for help with chairs or even prizes for a raffle and let your local media know too

Fundraise at your Big Lunch

Getting everyone together can be the ideal opportunity to help a cause close to your heart or a local asset such as a children’s play area

And after the event don’t forget to share your story…

There’s an opportunity to come together before that with The Big Lunch Community Walk from 17th to 31st May when a group of people will be visiting community projects in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England.

There may already be a lunch in your street or area but if not then “carpe diem” and start organising one today!

To find out how you can get involved in The Big Lunch, please visit Eden Project Communities

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Dementia Action Week

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Don’t be afraid to talk in Dementia Action Week

Research by the Alzheimer’s Society shows that many people are worried about saying the ‘wrong thing’ to someone with dementia or including them in a conversation.

In this, Dementia Action Week, (20th to 26th May) the society is running its #AskUsAnything campaign to break down the awkwardness and anxiety many people feel.

Someone in the UK develops dementia every three minutes and research shows that despite many of us knowing someone affected by the condition, two-thirds of those living with the condition say they feel isolated and lonely.

In Dementia Action Week, Alzheimer’s Society is encouraging people to start a conversation with someone living with dementia they know, whether that be to speak to a relative or visit a neighbour.

Alzheimer’s Society has produced a booklet with advice on how to start a conversation with someone living with dementia, explaining what they may experience and how you can help make talking to them easier.

Tips include:

– Give the person with dementia your full attention and try to speak to them face-to-face, be patient and give them time to answer

– Keep to questions with a yes or no answer or give a short list of options with your question

– Speak clearly in a friendly and chatty way and make sure you are relaxed

– Try to laugh about any mistakes or misunderstandings

– Try to talk to the person about something they have an interest in or that makes them laugh

There are many ways you can help and starting a conversation is just the beginning.

You may choose to become a dementia friend and join 2.5million others who are helping in just that way by supporting people in your community with dementia; there are lots of opportunities to volunteer for Alzheimer’s Society; help with fundraising such as holding your own cupcake day on 13th June or sign up to one of the campaigns.

There are events taking place all over the country during Dementia Action Week.

 To find out about these and how you can get involved visit Alzheimer’s Society

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Gardening: Abundance of colour

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Spring is coming to its glorious end, and summer is nearly upon us.

Long sunny days (fingers crossed) and an abundance of colour and produce are just around the corner. Now is the perfect time to:

– Deadhead spring bulbs but resist the temptation to cut back the foliage. The bulbs need the nutrients from the leaves to put on a good show next year

– Divide hostas as they come back into growth

– Tie in sweetpeas, and climbing and rambling roses

– Prune spring flowering shrubs such as Hibiscus and Laurel

– Top dress permanent containers with fresh compost

– Apply weedkiller to lawns and feed with a high nitrogen fertiliser to promote healthy growth

– Lower the blades on your mower to their regular summer-cut height

– Delay mowing newly-sown lawns until they are 3” high, (and raise the mower blades)

– Keep on top of weeds to stop them taking valuable moisture and nutrients from the soil

– Put up netting to protect soft fruit from the birds

– Protect strawberries with straw – placing it around the plants prevents weed growth and protects the berries from wet soil

– Plant up hanging baskets and patio containers with summer bedding such as pelargoniums, fuschias, petunias etc, but keep an eye on the weather forecast and bring them in or protect with fleece if frost is forecast

– Continue successional sowings of annual herbs, beetroots, carrots and radishes

– Direct sow or plant out French beans, courgettes and pumpkins when you’re sure we’ve seen the last of the frosts

Plants looking fabulous now include:

o Allium ‘Purple Sensation’
o Aquilegias
o Ceanothus (Californian lilac)
o Choisya ternata (Mexican orange blossom)
o Early peonies
o Iris sibirica
o Syringa vulgaris (lilac)

Why not visit some gardens for inspiration?

My top picks for May are:

Rookwood Farm House, Stockcross, Newbury (National Garden Scheme, 5th May)

Sandleford Place, Newbury (National Garden Scheme, 12th May)

The Old Mill, Ramsbury, Wiltshire (National Garden Scheme, 19th May)

West Green House, Hartley Wintney, Hants (Wed-Sun, plus Bank Hols)

Chenies Manor House, Bucks (Wed-Thur, plus Tulip Festival on 6th May)

  Call Hannah Fraser, Bloom Gardens on 07768 041929 or visit Bloom Gardens website

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Foster Care Fortnight

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Foster carers are part of what’s called “the team around the child”. As we approach Foster Care Fortnight, between 13th and 26th May, we encourage you to consider it.

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Christian Aid Week

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Today marks the start of Christian Aid Week, the national week raising money for the worldwide work of Christian Aid.

Last year more than £8million was donated to fight poverty and help poor communities around the world.

The focus this year is on helping communities in Sierra Leone where a lack of healthcare means it is the world’s most dangerous place to give birth – 10 women die every day while going through this natural experience.

While many are familiar with the doorstep collections there are other ways to help too. One of Christian Aid Week’s key initiatives is the Big Brekkie – whether in your home, office or church host a big breakfast as more than 2,500 people did last year.

A free fundraising pack is available, just sign up online at www.christianaid.org.uk

Christian Aid has more than 70 year’s experience of working to support communities, helping men, women and children in poverty and at times of disaster.

Local volunteer house-to-house collectors will be delivering envelopes around the country but if your street is not covered consider making a donation at www.caweek.org.

Various events are being held to help raise funds as well such as the service and tea at Holy Trinity Church in Charlton today (Sunday 12th May), from 5.15pm and a garden and conservatory cream tea the following Sunday (19th) in Church Street, Appleford – just follow the signs in the village. There’ll be a plant stall, music and home made teas to enjoy from 3pm to 5.30pm for just £4, with all proceeds going to Christian Aid.

Christian Aid Week runs from 12th to 18th May.

Find out more on Christian Aid’s website

Photo: Nurse Judith Lassie treats 12 day old baby twins Credit: Christian Aid/Tom Pilston

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Marathon in May

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Can you take on PACT’s Marathon in May challenge?

If you’re a runner who’s been inspired by today’s London Marathon to give the 26.2miles a go then how about trying PACT’s Marathon in May challenge.

Complete the distance on your own or as a group of friends or colleagues or with your family and support the work of Parents and Children Together.

The charity advertises it as “your challenge, your way” and that’s because it doesn’t have to be done as a run you can choose to walk, cycle or swim the distance if you prefer.

Why not walk a mile every day for 26 days in May – yes it doesn’t have to be all in one day –  or how about going out for a six and a half mile bike ride each weekend in the month?

PACT’s Marathon in May costs just £14 to take part in and you’ll get a medal and a colour-in chart to track your progress. Extra medals can be ordered too for any children taking part, for just £2.50 each.

All proceeds from the registration fees will be used to support PACT’s work building and strengthening and families.

The Reading-based charity has been helping families since 1911 and as well as being one of the UK’s leading independent adoption agencies, it offers counselling, therapy and life story work helping children to overcome difficulties in childhood, teenage years and in early adulthood.

PACT also runs community projects helping vulnerable children and adults facing issues such as domestic abuse, homelessness and debt.

  For more about PACT and Marathon in May and how to take part please visit www.pactcharity.org 

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Floral feast

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The blooming marvellous Chelsea Flower Show is a true horticultural highlight

here’s nothing more British than Chelsea Flower Show, with cutting-edge garden design and plants from all over the world, the show offers a glamorous, unique and memorable experience.

Whether your green fingers can make anything flourish or you only have to look at a plant to see it off, this event from 21st to 25th May, has so many aspects to enjoy and marvel at.

Internationally renowned designers and world-class exhibits vying to win RHS Gold medals and the coveted Best Show Garden will greet you round every corner with a few surprises too.

One garden that is sure to attract a great deal of attention this year is the RHS Back to Nature garden designed by The Duchess of Cambridge with Andree Davies and Adam White.

With the emphasis firmly on the family and inspired by childhood memories, the woodland garden offers a place to play, learn and discover and as part of the RHS’s partnership with NHS England is promoting the physical and emotional benefits of gardening and being outdoors. After the show, much of the planting and landscaping will be given to an NHS mental health trust.

Visitors to this garden – and there are sure to be many – can marvel at the centrepiece tree house with its swing hanging form the branches; a waterfall and stream to paddle in and a hollow log to learn balancing and climbing.

The garden is designed to be relaxing and calming as well as boasting plants for craft activities, food for wildlife and nectar for pollination.

Among the highlights (although I’m not sure how you pick) are a garden inspired by a rock formation on an Australian beach for show sponsor M&G Investments and Welcome to Yorkshire which consists of a towpath running alongside a canal lock.

Artisan Gardens are making a welcome return with smaller spaces offering thought-provoking designs that tell a story. Here you can wander around gardens raising awareness for donkeys to mark the 50th anniversary of The Donkey Sanctuary; The High Maintenance Garden for Motor Neurone Disease Association which reflects the limitations of some with the disease and the forgotten quarry garden among others.

Don’t let limited space put you off creating a garden you can be proud of, the Space to Grow gardens are a feature of Chelsea for the second year with the Kampo no Niha garden. Kampo is a system a Japanese herbal medicine with plants featured for their health benefits while The Facebook Garden takes you “Beyond the Screen”.

The Duchess of Cambridge at the announcement of the garden design in January Credit: RHS / Suzanne Plunkett

Garden designer Chris Beardshaw, winner of Best Show Garden 2018 for the Morgan Stanley Garden for the NSPCC, Credit: RHS / Luke McGregor

The Chelsea Flower Show is also heralding the health and wellbeing benefits of green spaces and gardening for people and the environment.

Designers have explored the positive powers of plants and looked at factors which affect mental and physical health, such as Kate Gould’s garden supported by Greenfingers Charity which has created an uplifting space for children and the Savills and David Harber Garden which is all about how good it can feel getting away from the hustle and bustle using plants, trees and grasses to show a sustainable woodland clearing in a city garden.

The centrepiece of the show is the Great Pavilion which houses specialist growers from across the UK and those who have travelled from overseas to attend.

More than 80 exhibitors will be featured with a first for the Great Pavilion this year in the shape of a fully-interactive and walk-through garden, created by Tom Dixon and sponsored by IKEA, showcasing sustainable, affordable and forward-thinking solutions to growing food at home and in the community.

Many of the exhibitors are celebrating significant anniversaries this year at Chelsea including the multi-award winning David Austin Roses which marks its 50th anniversary at the show; the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies celebrating 60 years and the leading orchid cultivator McBean’s Nursery, with more than 70 Gold awards to its name, which is celebrating its 140th year.

After you’ve walked round and feasted on all that – and that’s only a small fraction of what’s on offer – you’ll be in need of some sustenance and there’s no shortage of options there either, not least the Jardin Blanc, an innovative dining experience from award-winning Oxfordshire chef Raymond Blanc.

To complete your quintessentially British experience visit The Drawing Room courtesy of The Dorchester and enjoy a floral-inspired tea with pastries and warm scones alongside a glass of Champagne or pop into Wedgewood’s tea conservatory and taste the exotic Wonderlust Collection.

Night owls can also hang back after the crowds have dispersed and enjoy Chelsea Late with botanical-inspired cocktails and cool jazz to round off what will have been a sublime experience.

  For more information about these gardens and many more and to book tickets, please visit www.rhs.org.uk

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April flowers

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I absolutely love this time of year. The countryside is awash with daffodils, tulips are starting to flower and glorious summer days in the garden really are just around the corner.

Now is the perfect time to:

– Prune shrubs including buddlejas, hebes, mop head hydrangeas, hypericums and winter flowering honeysuckles. Always start by removing any branches which are dead, damaged, diseased or crossing other branches. Established shrubs can be hard pruned to control size

– Direct sow hardy annuals such as marigolds, nigella, poppies, ammi, cerinthe and nasturtiums for lots of summer colour. It’s also your last chance to sow sweet peas

– Beetroot, broad beans, brassicas, onions, parnsips, salad leaves and spinach can all be sown now. Sow little and often for harvesting throughout the year. If you can’t decide which cultivars to choose, opt for the ones with ‘AGM’ after the name.

– Plant second early potatoes by the middle of the month, and maincrops by the end

– Plant snowdrops ‘in the green’

– Protect plants from slugs and snails which are out in force now. There are several ways to control them: beer traps, mulching with grit, or simply by being vigilant and removing them. If you decide to use slug pellets go for the ones based onferrous phosphate rather than metaldehyde to protect wildlife. Apply sparingly

– Create a new lawn by seeding or turfing

– Green up existing lawns by scarifying, aerating, feeding and weeding

– Start mowing regularly

– Apply a general fertiliser such as Vitax Q4 to your borders to give both edible and ornamental plants a nutritional boost

– Protect fruit blossom from late frosts with horticultural fleece

Plants looking particularly good now include:

  • Brunnera macropylla (Siberian bugloss)
  • Chaenomeles × superba ‘Crimson and Gold’ (Japanese quince)
  • Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ (wallflower)
  • Euphorbia amygdaloides (wood spurge)
  • Hyacinthoides non-scripta (bluebell)
  • Lamprocapnos spectabilis (bleeding heart)
  • Ribes sanguineum (flowering currant)

Why not visit some gardens for inspiration?

My top picks for April are

Rooksnest, Lambourn Woodlands, (April 10th)

The Old Rectory, Farnborough (April 14th)

Rookwood Farm House, Stockcross (April 28th)

Chenies Manor, Rickmansworth

Waddesdon Manor, Aylesbury

  Call Hannah Fraser, Bloom Gardens on 07768 041929 or visit Bloom Gardens website

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We Love Golf

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The We Love Golf campaign is encouraging more women to take part in the game and enjoy the social side too

If you thought golf wasn’t for you, then think again, there has been a real swing over the past year towards making the game more accessible and appealing to women.

We Love Golf is all about encouraging more women to get involved and as much as it’s about picking up the clubs it’s also about ensuring women feel part of a ‘club’ – a social club that is, where they can make friends and be part of a community coming together to enjoy themselves through the game.

The PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association) is helping this drive with the use of social media encouraging women to share their experiences and success stories.

We Love Golf is about friendship, health and fitness and providing support for women to develop, stimulate interest in the game, connect to others and offering basic information so don’t worry if you don’t know the difference between an iron and a wood or don’t know your eagle from your albatross – none of that matters.

The campaign will help find a PGA Professional who can help you learn to play and teach you the finer points of the game. Starting with an often free taster session you don’t need any equipment or the ‘right clothes’, all that’s needed is a sense of fun and enthusiasm to learn.

After the initial session, many women go on to join a group coaching session and will then progress further to take advantage of offers for reduced priced rounds and relaxed memberships.

We want women to view it as a leisure activity they do with friends

Two pilot schemes were launched last year, one at Reigate Heath attracted 10 women who then all signed up to group coaching and have since signed up to the next programme. Head pro Cliff Gough was so pleased with the success of that he now’s running a new programme in tandem with the first one.

This year the campaign plans to expand the scheme and host events all over the country, creating a real sense of community, including a campaign around the Women’s British Open at the beginning of  August.

Nicole Wheatley, is helping to tee off the We Love Golf campaign and hopes the social aspect of it will help its appeal. She says: “We want women to view it as a leisure activity they do with friends, come along and enjoy the game and have a good chat and laugh at the same time.

“We’ve found the women who have come along so far have celebrated the small successes such as getting out of a bunker and have been very encouraging towards each other, often through social media and this is what we are trying to promote.”

  Details of the pros involved and We Love Golf events are on www.facebook.com/WeLoveGolfPGA and follow them on Twitter and Instagram

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Wildlife survey

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People’s Trust for Endangered Species needs your help to record Britain’s ‘big five’

Help wildlife this spring by recording sightings of Britain’s ‘big five’ and others for the annual Living with Mammals survey. 

Wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is asking volunteers to record sightings of all mammals they see to help future conservation efforts. 

Last year the top five recorded were: grey squirrels, foxes, mice, hedgehogs and bats. 

Volunteers can take part from 1st April to 30th June, recording mammals they see or signs of them in any local green space – gardens, allotments, parks etc in an urban, suburban or rural location – within 200 metres of a building. 

Surveys officer at PTES, David Wembridge urges people to join in stressing the importance of green spaces and our wildlife. He says: “They provide food, clean air and water, and make us healthier and happier. Counting our wild neighbours, and knowing how their populations are changing, is a health-check on our towns and cities. 

“As our weather warms up, we hope people will get out and see lots of wildlife – and the signs they leave behind, such as footprints or droppings.” 

Volunteers can spend anything from 10 minutes a week at their chosen site to several hours and can do so either individually or as part of a team. 

David adds: “The results allow us to understand how populations of each species are changing – for better or worse. This lets us identify where conservation work is needed most.” 

  For more information on how to spot mammals and to register to take part go to www.ptes.org/LWM and upload any images you can snap to social media using the hashtag #livingwithmammals 

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