Volunteer Newsletter ENG May - Outside Lives Ltd

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MAY 2021 | VOLUME 2 V UNTEER TIMES Your monthly update on all things volunteering at Outside Lives! IN OUR MAY ISSUE... News Volunteer Opportunities Time Credits Lottery Business News Site Update Reuse & Recycle WELCOME FROM LUCY POWELL Founder & Managing Director Welcome to the second addition of our newsletter! There have been some exciting developments here at Outside lives this month... we launched our Happy News Channel, Settle and Soothe classes and had our first face to face volunteering session here at site! We have also started collaborating with a number of artists who are going to be running new sessions for us in the not to distant future....so watch this space! We have a number of volunteering opportunities coming up very soon, so if you haven't registered yet, please visit our new website (www.outsidelivesltd.org) check out our volunteering page and sign up! Work on site has continued at pace to get it ready for a summer of exciting events. Thanks to a team of volunteers who joined us for a "60-Minute Rakeover", we were able to tidy up the pathways and our work with the wildlife trust has led to us having a beautifully laid hedge, which will serve as a pathway for local wildlife! VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES! What you can look forward to in the coming months... As the COVID restrictions start to reduce, we are beginning to offer some of the more hands on opportunities (like gardening etc). We still have opportunities for people to work remotely too (we have one-off tasks, bite-sized activities and ongoing commitments) so whatever your interests and whatever time life will allow you to spare, we are likely to have something to suit you! Pond Refurbishment- We are launching a new project to re-establish our wildlife pond here on site. We are looking for a team of people to help us with this. Digital Media - We have lots of opportunities here, from editing videos to helping share posts across social media, If you are interested in the digital side of marketing please get in touch. Journalism - Thank you to Penny Lynch who is working with us as our "journalist". We still have other opportunities here too, so for all the budding journalists... we are looking for people to get involved in reporting, either by completing videoed news reports for our Happy News Channel or by writing articles on things that are happening at OL, (which would contribute to our blog and newsletters like this one). Food Events - we are looking for a group of volunteers to help co-produce some food events that we have planned for summer. So if this is something that tickles your taste buds, then we'd love to hear from you. We would love to hear from anyone who wants to get involved. If you would like to find out more about these roles please email: [email protected] OR you can sign up to be a volunteer with us be clicking here TIME CREDIT LOTTERY UPDATE! Everyone who volunteered with us last month has received some Time Credits. We'd love to hear from you on how you used them. THERE' S LOTS GOING ON AT HQ! Here are a few things worth checking out this month: ART CLASSES - If you enjoy art and craft activities, keep an eye on our Facebook page for details or use the enquiry form on our website to find out more. Art classes are happening via Zoom on a Wednesday evening. All ages an abilities welcome. Classes cost £5 per session (payable before the session). SETTLE AND SOOTHE - 45-minutes of restful yoga, deep relaxation and meditation for the ultimate restorative experience, Session start on 13th April but can be done live or at your own leisure through our replay option. A course of 6 classes cost £30. Check out Facebook for booking instructions. HISTORY OF HERE - This wonderful project is continuing to document local history and produce some creative ways to tell you all about it. Check out the website (www.historyofhere.com) PLANT SWAP! Back by popular demand is our Community Plant Swap initiative! Originally the brain child of Toni Wolstenholme, last year's Plant Swap saw lots of you get in on the action by setting up tables in your local areas to enable the community to swap seeds and plants with one another. For those who don't have any plants to swap, plants can still be taken (with a donation pot available on each table). Given the success of these table in 2020 we decided to relaunch it in 2021. Thanks to the Soil Association's "Food For Life" fund we have been able to provide some tables for people to use this year... which following a Facebook post, were quickly snapped up!. If you want to set up your own table visit our website and go to the media section to find out more! DESIGN AND DELIVER We are on the look out for some volunteers to help us to design a tranquillity garden around Ty Lles (our new Wellness Yurt). The idea is to create a calm and relaxing space that people can come to when they wish to stop and reflect. The garden needs to be wheelchair accessible, create wildlife habitats, incorporate some medicinal planting and provide a sensory experience. In true Outside Lives style we'd also like to use repurposed or up-cycled materials wherever possible. If you would like to get involved in the design or delivery of this project, please contact us using the enquiry form on the website. WHAT' S NEW ON THE WEBSITE Thanks to funding from the Community Foundation Wales, we have been able to continue to develop our website. For all our Welsh speakers, we are thrilled to now be able to provide our website in Welsh as well as English. This is a big step forward in our desire to provide bilingual resources. We have also added a media section to house our blog and articles about things that are happening and you are also able to submit blogs to us too. INTRODUCING PENNY! Penny is now a regular volunteer with Outside Lives so let's find out some more about her: "I live in Ysceifiog with my husband, plus our dogs, cats, hens and sheep - all living together on our smallholding. I love gardening, and have a veggie garden, plus an ever-evolving flower garden. I am doing some writing for the Outside Lives newsletters, blogs and social media releases. I have always enjoyed hammering a keyboard, and as a teacher, I love communicating with people too. As we have all learned to hold meetings on Zoom, now I can find out what people are getting up to, without even leaving my home. As a bonus, this is something I can do when it’s too wet and cold outside to get into my own garden." AN UPDATE ON OUR PROJECTS! Here's a round up of some of our current Outside Lives projects... As always, there are lots of projects happening out Outside Lives! To find out more about these projects and who they are supporting please visit the projects page on our website. Here are a couple of highlights: PRODUCE TO PLATE - This is a growing and food sharing project funded by the Soil Association - Food for Life. We have already mentioned about he wonderful plant swap initiative and if you need any "growing' advice then check out our Q&A sessions with Rachel Farr (our organic growing expert) which can be found on YouTube. We are also hoping to host some foodie events through the summer so get in touch if you would like to be involved. ARTS COUNCIL WALES - subscribe to the Outside Lives YouTube channel and check out the two wonderful series of videos that have been produced for this project. The "Make, Move, Do" series provides inspirational activities presented by a wide range of Artists. The "Creative Lives series features a number of Artists talking abut their professions, their areas of expertise and how they have developed their careers. WHAT ' S HAPPENIN G ON SITE... POND LIFE We are thrilled to be embarking on a new project to re-establish our wildlife pond here on site! The project is being headed up by the wonderful Luisa and she is looking for a team of keen wildlife enthusiasts to work along side her. If you are interested in getting involved with this project please contact us via our website and sign-up as a volunteer using the link in the volunteer section of this newsletter. ON THE HEDGE! As part of our Into the Woods project, one of our young volunteers, Sam, worked with North Wales Wildlife Trust to lay a hedge at our site in Gwernymynydd. As well as getting stuck in with the hedge laying he also spent some time documenting what we had learned. Check out his video on the Outside Lives You Tube Channel. You'll learn all about how to lay a hedge and also why hedgerows are so important. Well done Sam, you are a natural presenter... watch out Chris Packham we say! 60-MINUTE RAKEOVER Thank you to the group of volunteers who joined us on site for our first 60 Minute Rakeover. Our wonderful volunteers spent an hour working together to tidy up some of the green spaces so it's ready for people to start attending again. They did a wonderful job... it is very true that many hands make light work! Do you know of anyone who might benefit from a 60-Minute Rakeover? Perhaps someone who's health is preventing them from getting out in the garden? If you would like to nominate anyone for a 60-Minute Rakeover of their own, please use the enquiry form on the website giving as much detail as you can. THANK YOU / SHOUT OUT. . . Lots of wonderful garden tools have been donated by people for use onsite We've received lots of wooden pallets which were used to make our excellent plant swap tables Double Click Design & Print in Deeside printed our plant swap banners and we LOVE them! Outside Lives Ltd. Registered Address: Aberduna Hall, Maeshafn Road, Gwernymynydd, Mold CH5 7LE