At Shine, the young people participate in various fun activities, from being outdoors at the allotments, to indoor sessions crafting, cooking, and learning about the British Heritage.
We run a variety of allotment sessions: youth, home education, and accessible. As well as allotment sessions for a local care home and the local YMCA nurseries.
During September the young people have been hands on, harvesting the last of our fruit and vegetables, and learning how we close our allotments down for winter. The young people have helped by emptying the beds, weeding and turning the soil over, then scattering with manure and covering with a dark sheeting. They’ve got to try different fruits and vegetables while harvesting, and then the remaining fruits and vegetables get brought back to our youth centre to be used during cooking sessions or distributed during community fridge sessions.
As well as this, the young people have been learning about climate change, different wildlife they may see at the allotments, composting, the importance of recycling, and also making different homes or feeders for the wildlife that visit.
We have had Harleston House visit regularly who help us to maintain our accessible allotment, the residents love visiting and getting their hands dirty. Many of them share their tips and tricks for growing and maintaining the crops and flowers. It’s a great opportunity for them to get outdoors and back to nature. Alongside Harleston House, we have run some intergenerational sessions with a local school, Woodsloke Primary. The children and residents have enjoyed a few weeks of working together and learning from one another.
