It has been a busy summer and we are hugely relieved that the rain has finally started to fall! We are thankful that in the North we at least have some rain but the strange weather of summer 2022 has made us a little anxious for the future as we wonder how the climate emergency will impact us.
One way we can do our bit to look after our world is to invest in our soil. We are delighted to have been awarded a grant from Social Farms and Gardens and Grind to invest in our composting systems. Working with Minna from compost works we are looking at ways to create quick compost using our waste from the garden to mean we never have to buy compost again. Combined with our ‘no-dig’ methodology this will maximise the soils ability to store carbon.
Over the summer we have spent a lot of time eating! Cooking with our food is an integral part of who we are and eating together quickly builds community. One of the best meals was a big buffet of potato salad, bean salad, greens and a pasta using all our own veg. Lunchtime felt like a family party!
A highlight of the summer is when we open on a Thursday evening while the light nights allow. These sessions are always quite chilled out with a lot of tea-drinking! It’s a great opportunity to meet new people who aren’t around in the day (welcome to Jen!) and to have time to chat and get to know each other. Another summer highlight is Bootle in Bloom. Working with Taking Root in Bootle we help facilitate Bootle’s town entry into this RHS competition. We love challenging the stereotype of what Bootle is and focusing on our beautiful green spaces and amazing local residents.
Work is still progressing (although quite slowly!) on our new kitchen build. Sometimes we are a little overwhelmed with the amount we don’t know that we need to know, but slow progress is still moving forward. A special mention needs to go to Andy from Green Sefton for lying on the floor with his head down manhole covers in the park to see which way the water drained! Our planning request went in last week and we are praying this goes smoothly so we can get our build on!
We have spent time recently ‘getting our house’ in order. As a result we now have a beautiful new website, volunteer induction, updated policies and are working on a new impact measurement tool. It’s easy to forget these things in the busyness of the garden in summer but they are essential if we are going to be sustainable as an organisation – and we want to be around for a long-time!
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Gateway Collective is a registered Community Interest Company (CIC). Registration Number: 9123296.
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