ActivLives Newsletter – December 2020

ActivLives Newsletter – December 2020

In light of the UK lockdown, we unfortunately won’t be bringing our usual bright and colourful newsletter to you this quarter.
However, here’s an electronic version with the added benefit of bigger photos!

ActivGardens

Festive Market a HUGE Success!
Our team at the community garden pulled out all the stops to put on a fabulous festive market on 4th December, and thanks to all our supporters, we made a whopping £568!

As well as freshly picked produce and cheerful plants to brighten up winter days, we had an amazing array of gifts, all made by our volunteers and learners.

Visitors braved the first really bad weather of the season to browse our original range of gifts such as – bee products – including bee bombs, candles and lip balm – a delicious selection of jams, jellies and chutneys, strings of chillies and many other decorations, pine cone firelighters and bird feeders, woolly hats and furry brooches, and a fantastic display of wooden items by the ActivSheds team.

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the day the success it was.

It’s not too late to pick up a gift from us! Festive goods will continue to be on sale from our polytunnels until we close for Christmas on 18th December.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas. Thank you for all your support in this very challenging year. We look forward to seeing you in 2021! Gardening and access to the great outdoors has never been more important. The gardens reopen on Monday 4th Janaury 2021.

Grow Your Future learners move on to pastures new as new faces start their garden adventure

Our learners have enjoyed a productive three months at the community garden, and are now moving into work experience in a variety of roles – supporting others, trying their hand at flower arranging with a professional florist, and working at Chantry Walled Garden.

As well as taking part in all aspects of horticulture and gardening, beekeeping and nature conservation – including scything our wild meadow with a local expert, they got involved in preparing for the market too, including making pickles and jams, apple-pressing, harvesting honey and making crafts.

The group is busy looking at progression routes into further training or employment, while our third group of 10 learners enrolled in November, and is now settling in.

These free courses are funded by the European Social Fund.

We still have spaces on this course, which resumes in January. Please get in touch if you or someone you know or support would like to take part.

Grow to Learn gives young and old a taste of the great outdoors

Leading Lives Community Benefit fund has enabled us to provide taster sessions for people with additional needs, both at our gardens and at our ActivSheds project.

Our weekly sessions have enabled young people to enjoy a range of gardening and nature conservation activities, alongside cooking, jam-making and other activities.

While these sessions are fun to take part in, they also enable people to develop practical skills and encourage important attributes such as good communication, ability to work as part of a team and willingness to take on responsibility.

Meanwhile, over at the ActivSheds, Ralph has helped men with living with a range of conditions, including dementia, Alzheimer’s, stroke and post-traumatic stress disorder, to get involved in making, doing, repairing, recycling, upcyling and everything to do with wood.

Those who take part enjoy socialising with others and sharing their skills and knowledge.

 

  • Thanks to South West Area Committee for funding our pop-up garage, which enables more people to take part in a safe, socially-distanced way.

Women’s Shed is now in Action!

Our merry band of ‘she shedders’ now meet every other Thursday afternoon, making all sorts of items from windmill sails (model, of course) to teddy trugs for grandchildren.

We also held a craft afternoon, flower arranging session, jam-making sessions and apple pressing as part of our Women’s Skills Exchange.

  • Please get in touch if you are interested in getting involved.

Walled Garden volunteers bring power of flowers to parks

Chantry Walled Garden volunteers, led by David Sheedy, grew an astounding 14,000 spring bedding plants for Ipswich parks and green spaces.

The pansies and polyanthus were collected by Ipswich Borough Council Parks team in October to be planted all around the town.

As one of our customers said: “It’s so important to have flowers during these difficult times. I’m going to enjoy seeing them all planted out.”

The plants arrive to our nursery as tiny plug plants in August, which then have to be carefully potted up and grown on, to be in peak condition for planting out in autumn. These plants will keep blooming right through winter and into spring.

Thanks to all our team who worked so hard and made such a tremendous effort.

    Helping hands from local business

    Our Wild Zone benefited from Do Good’s corporate networking team in October, when a group of seven people from various local business came to the People’s Community Garden.

    We were delighted to welcome Councillor Nadia Cenci – who has been a great supporter of the gardens over the years – as part of the team, setting her to work on raking up grass as habitat piles and sowing wildflower seed.

    We hope to welcome back Do Good in 2021.

      School puts finishing touches to their new garden with a bit of help from us!

      Lesley visited Stoke High – Ormiston Academy to help children with additional needs put the finishing touches to their garden at the front of the school.

      We took over a selection of plants which children enthusiastically planted up.

      Community librarian Jane Riches, who has led the project for the school, said: “All of the children in this group enjoy getting outside, they feel more relaxed working in a small group and love the garden. 

      “They dug up 60 potatoes yesterday, yes they actually counted them!”

        Update from Belle Vue Park, Sudbury – Bev

        Our volunteers continue to improve the beds at Belle Vue Park. We have been clearing the woodland area of the park. We have cut back large shrubs, cleared pathways, we have moved non-woodland plants and have replaced them with English Bluebell bulbs and woodland plants such as Pulmonaria and Cyclamen.   Perrywoods in Sudbury very kindly donated £50 to enable us to purchase more woodland plants.

        We are putting leaf mould on the beds to protect the dahlia tubers.  The tender plants have been moved to Chantry Walled Garden and winter bedding plants and perennials have gone in.  The Community Wardens have given us a quantity of woodchip that has been placed next to our compost bins ready to use next year.

        We have provided work experience placements for students at the Ryes College – which provides education and care to young people with complex needs. The students have been very courteous and hard-working. They have integrated into the Sudbury team very well with support from Liz Brightwell and other staff from the school.

        Our volunteers say they have become much closer during lockdown – forming friendships, meeting outside of the project to enjoy other activities together, and supporting each other – running errands for each other and calling each other to make sure they are okay.

          “I love gardening. It’s good for my health.  I have made friends at the ActivGardens group and have recently started to support Sudbury in Bloom with Julia.”

          Maxine

          “I need to socialise with others.  I have made friends with Bev and the other volunteers.  I go walking on a Tuesday with Rosemary and meet Bernie to tend the garden at the Railway station.  Gardening keeps me fit, mentally and physically.”

          Hazel

          “I joined to learn life skills and enjoy talking to other volunteers – it makes me feel very happy and useful.”

          Merry

          ActivSports

          Getting Out & About with ActivLives!
          ActivLives members have had the chance to get out of their houses, and go on mini health walks with ActivLives staff – meaning they can get weekly exercise, while staying safe and supervised!

          These have happened in one-to-one sessions, as well as in small socially-distanced groups.

          Here’s what some members have had to say:

          “I enjoy exercising with someone else, it really helps to motivate me.

          “The exercises that we are doing remind of what we would normally do at our badminton sessions.

          “I am feeling so much fitter as a result of these (exercise) sessions, I really enjoy the challenge.”

          MB

          “It has been so lovely to go for a walk somewhere different (on the heath), it’s not something that I would feel safe doing on my own.” 

          MH

          “I have been stuck in the house for so long, these walks are great.

          “I am seeing places that I have never been to before, and I have lived for over 40 years!

          “Thank you Mike, it’s really good to see you both again.

          “My Daughter in Law said ‘Go for it’, when I told her about the walks. I’m so glad that I did!”

          AC

          ActivHubs

          After successfully re-opening some of our Better Balance sessions as well as our ActivSteps session back in September following the end of the first lockdown, another lockdown meant that these had to stop temporarily after not long being started!  During lockdown 2 we were able to offer live exercise sessions via Zoom where some members were able to participate in their exercise class with their instructor from the comfort of their own homes.  This worked really well, with very few technical difficulties and allowed people to maintain their fitness whilst keeping connected with others. 

          Now that Lockdown 2 has finished we have been able to reopen some of our classes again whilst following Covid safety measures.   We ensure that members are 2 metres apart whilst participating in their exercise, frequently sanitise, follow social distancing and face masks are worn (although these can be removed during the exercise).   We are operating 2 Better Balance sessions on a Tuesday morning at Rushmere Village Hall as well as 3 sessions at Walton Community Centre on a Tuesday morning.  St Mary at Stoke Church Hall also has a session running on a Tuesday morning. Our ActivSteps group continues to run at Castle Hall Community Centre on a Thursday morning and Woodbridge also has 2 sessions running at the Fred Reynolds Centre, also on a Thursday morning. 

          We were also pleased to have welcomed back some members to our Leiston Better Balance session on Wednesday 9th December.  This was the first time this group had returned since March and it was lovely to see people back at the King George Community Centre.  Comments from our members were “it’s really good to be back”.

          As some venues are still not opening up, we have been trying to seek alternative venues for some of our other groups.  We are very grateful to the Kingfisher Pub at Chantry which is temporarily hosting our Monday morning class.

          We are making lots of wellbeing phone calls to keep in touch with our members and hope that it won’t be too much longer until we are able to resume all of our Better Balance sessions.  We look forward to seeing those members that have not yet been able to return to their class as well as welcoming new people who are interested in joining.

          Message from ActivLives – 02.10.20

          On Monday 23rd March 2020, due to the Covid-19 virus and Government lockdown ActivLives had to close all of our activity sessions, the Sudbury project and limit access to our two community gardens in Ipswich. The office closed at Brightspace and staff worked remotely, attended the gardens and two staff were furloughed for 2 months.

           

          What we achieved through lockdown?

          • We contacted 300 of our more vulnerable members and volunteers through regular befriending and welfare calls.
          • We developed Activ@Home on our website/Facebook page with exercise videos, weekly quizzes, singing videos and launched our ‘That Reminds Me’ reminiscence, arts and photography project.
          • We set up WhatsApp groups, so that our members could keep in touch with each other.
          • We held regular zoom social and ActivSinging sessions and organised singing sessions outdoors in people’s gardens and in parks.
          • Our two Community Gardens the People’s Community Garden at Maidenhall and Chantry Walled Garden at Chantry Park were closed to the general public, but were maintained by a skeleton team of staff and dedicated volunteers who followed strict social distancing and hygiene guidelines.
          • We received thousands of plugs / plants for the IBC parks and our plant sales, which were nurtured by a small team of dedicated volunteers.
          • We set up our plant on-line sales and delivery service to enable people to access plants during lockdown and to link with people in the community.
          • A dedicated team of volunteers looked after our Bee Hives to ensure our bees survived through lockdown.
          • We were able to continue providing healthy fresh produce and flowers for the local community at the People’s Community Garden, to help people through lockdown and keeping in touch with the community.
          • The Staff and Trustees met regularly via Zoom sessions and this will continue for the foreseeable future.
          • We continued to work on the Bridging the Gap project funded by Ipswich & East Suffolk CCG / Suffolk Community Foundation in partnership with NSFT / Willows Unit and the Recovery College holding regular zoom meetings and working on learning plans for Inclusive sport and Connecting with Nature.
          • For those people who didn’t have access to the internet we printed hard copy exercise sheets, quiz booklets, produced a CD and hard copy songbooks which were distributed to members to try and keep them connected.
          • We would like to thank all our funders for being very supportive and understanding through this very difficult time particularly the National Lottery, Suffolk Community Foundation, County, Borough, District & Town Councils and Councillors.

           

          Where we are now?

          • We are monitoring the Covid-19 situation and Government announcements very closely and following strict guidance on hygiene / cleaning, social distancing and the wearing of face masks.
          • We have been working closely with venues on risk assessments to ensure that our members, volunteers and staff are safe and to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
          • We have been working on our re-start plan to gradually re-introduce some activity sessions again to help our members improve their physical and mental health and build their confidence, after many of them have had to shield during lockdown.
          • The ActivOut and About Project has been operating since July and has focussed on offering Covid-19 compliant outdoor exercise opportunities including chair-based exercise in people’s gardens, walks in local green spaces and badminton and boccia in the park. We are very grateful to Active Suffolk and Sport England for their support for this initiative.
          • Inclusive Badminton, Boccia and Badminton sessions are planning to re-start in October / November 20. We are taking a gradual approach to re-opening these sessions, taking into account the myriad of Covid-19 regulations from the venues, sports governing bodies, Sport England and the DCMS.
          • We have re-started some of our Step by Step falls prevention and ActivSteps sessions in Ipswich and Felixstowe, with others planned to open in October if we can. A new member of staff has been recruited to develop the Step by Step Falls Prevention projected, funded by Ipswich & East Suffolk CCG and she will be joining us in November.
          • The People’s Community Garden, Chantry Walled Garden and the Sudbury Project have welcomed back existing volunteers and new volunteers to all the different projects currently underway at ActivGardens and Chantry Walled Garden is now open to the general public on Thursdays from 10am – 3pm.
          • ActivSheds has re-opened on Fridays with a limited number of volunteers at each session and a new specialist session has opened on Thursdays for people with a disability or people living with Dementia and their Carers, which can offer more 1-1 support.
          • The Elderflower Carers Hub has re-started at the CRESS Pavilion off Halifax Road with a new rota in place for members and volunteers, so that members, volunteers and staff can have an enjoyable session, whilst being socially distanced and keep people safe in the venue.
          • WhatsApp groups, Zoom social and singing sessions will continue so that we can keep in touch with members across Ipswich and East Suffolk.
          • We are continuing to develop the Bridging the Gap Project in partnership with NSFT / Willows Unit and the Recovery College and have through September been able to go back on the wards with table top gardening. Hopefully, our Boccia sessions will be able to re-start again soon.
          • The Friday Friends Hub at Whitehouse and funded by the North West Ipswich Big Local Trust will hopefully re-start in October / November time. It will be a slightly shorter session with a rota in place for members, Carers and volunteers. We are currently working with the Church to ensure it is a Covid-secure venue and session. The Friday Friends zoom social sessions will continue to ensure we support our members living with Dementia and their carers.
          • With the current Government announcements our two lunch clubs at St Mary at Stoke Church & the Ipswich International Church may not open until next year. However, we will be monitoring the guidance carefully and if we can open sooner we certainly will.
          • Our Befriending / Welfare calls will also continue with our most vulnerable members to help reduce their anxiety, loneliness and social isolation caused by the lockdown.

           We are taking things very slowly to ensure the safety of our staff, volunteers and members. We will continue to open sessions where and when we can and keep in touch with our members to make sure they are OK and inform them of any developments with our activity and social programme.

          A big thank you to all our funders and the amazing donations we have received to help the organisation through these unprecedented times and to the staff and volunteers who have gone that extra mile to support our services and each other during lockdown. If you require any further information, please contact us on 01473 345350.

          – Julie Stokes CEO

          Message from ActivLives – 19/05/2020

          Message from ActivLives – 19/05/2020

          The UK Government have recently published their Covid-19 Recovery Strategy, which includes a provisional timetable for changes to the restrictions that we are all experiencing.

          You may be wondering what these changes have meant for our services and activities at ActivLives?

          The changes that were implemented from 13th May (Step One), have made very little difference to what ActivLives are able to provide on a face to face basis. Although individually, we are now able to leave our home to exercise more often, drive further and even play some sports (such as golf), none of this changes are what ActivLives are able to provide in terms of projects and groups at this moment in time. This is due to the continued implementation of the social distancing rules and the restrictions on permitted social contact.

          ActivGardens continue to be closed to the public, although a small team of staff and brilliant volunteers are still working to carry out essential work. We have however, taken this opportunity to launch our new on-line plant and produce sales with ‘ActivGardens Online’ https://activlives.org.uk/activgardens/online/

          All other ActivLives projects continue to be suspended until further notice; these include all of our lunch clubs, exercise classes, inclusive sports groups and singing projects.

          The next round of proposed changes (Step Two), are due to be implemented on the 1st June, these are also unlikely to change anything that we at ActivLives, are able to provide in terms of face to face services.

          We are continuing to develop our on-line services including seated exercise routines, quizzes, a reminiscing project and sing-along sessions, which can all be found on our website at https://activlives.org.uk/activhome/

          Be assured that we do plan to return to full operation, just as soon as we are permitted and of course, when it is safe to do so!    

          We will be working on our own ‘road map’ of how we can re-introduce sessions, in a safe and phased approach, when it is safe for us to do so. So please be patient and keep safe – We will meet again!

           

          ActivLives Trustees

          Julie Stokes – ActivLives CEO

           

          https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/our-plan-to-rebuild-the-uk-governments-covid-19-recovery-strategy/our-plan-to-rebuild-the-uk-governments-covid-19-recovery-strategy

          Gardens keep up essential growing during lockdown

          Gardens keep up essential growing during lockdown

          Integral work has been happening at our gardens to make sure our plants & produce stay healthy and alive!
          We have ensured that all of our staff and key volunteers are sticking to the Government guidelines by staying 2m apart, having staggered breaks, doing deep cleans daily, and making sure to only do integral work (i.e. potting up, watering, etc).

          People’s Community Garden – by Bev

          We have been preparing beds to seed directly, lots of seed sowing going on in the polytunnels.  The soil in all beds has been manured and mulched to improve the structure.  Our new compost bins are warming up with the grass cuttings. The potatoes are in, with 2 rows of cabbages, the broad beans have flowers already.  The Summer House has turned into a bee information centre and the pond has lots of frogspawn in it; we have added materials to encourage the frogs to stay nearby.  The sensory gardens and herb spiral are springing into life.  The plan is to produce enough vegetables and fruit to support the local community in difficult times.  We have preserved beetroot, shallots and have made rhubarb Jam in preparation for future markets. We have sown 200 hundred sunflower seeds to give to each local household to encourage them to our markets when the world recovers from the COVID-19 virus.  We have a blue tit nesting in a bird box near the entrance.

          Chantry Walled Garden – by Susannah

          Meanwhile over at CWG we potted up 3,000 Geranium last week, to be planted out in Ipswich parks and green spaces. We are awaiting the arrival of the perennials order next week – around 1,000 plants, with 1,000 bedding plants due the following week.

          We are also making a start on renovating the long flower border so – when all this is over – people will be able to come and enjoy something really special.

          Well done and huge thanks to all team who are keeping the sites going – observing strict precautions on social distancing and hygiene.
          Bees – by Adee

          The bees are slowly coming round from their winter slumber.  The queen starts to lay eggs so the bees have to work hard to make ready for all the new worker bees that are about to be born.  This can be a very difficult time for the hive, a cold wet spring can mean that the hive doesn’t survive, but a good sign to look for are bees coming back to the hive with lots of pollen on their legs.  Flowers in bloom now and trees provide vital food for what’s to come.  Other things to see as the days are getting warmer and longer all bees will be coming out of hibernation.  You will see queen bumblebees out foraging before she goes to build her nest.  Mason bees are emerging from their cocoons and butterflies will be waking up too.  Slow worms, lizards and snakes will be basking in the sun before going off to hunt.