High Spen Harvest Café
Who took part?
Members of the Rowlands Gill and District Live At Home Scheme and Year 5/6 pupils from High Spen Primary School, The Hop Garden.
Why?
- To increase awareness of the school’s community annexe space as a local meeting venue for High Spen residents.
- To raise awareness of the Hop Garden as a community allotment resource and the volunteering opportunities it offers.
- To recruit volunteers for the Live At Home Scheme, to support the programme of activities they offer.
What took place?
Exploring the themes of harvest time and the history of High Spen, the groups worked alongside artist Clare Satow and graphic designer Cathy Sharp. Using screen printing, photography and design, they created a piece of art work for the main window of the school’s community annexe. Mary Dodd, a member of the Live At Home Scheme, was inspired to write a poem about the themes of the Soul Soup project, one verse of which was recreated in the form of a cross stitch sample and featured in the design of the final art work displayed on the window.
Sarah Cossom from The Hop Garden in High Spen, volunteered her time and managed workshops where the groups planted and grew their own seeds in a dedicated Soul Soup planter. The home-grown vegetables and other seasonal produce were used to make soups, creating their own recipes with home economist Jill Weatherburn.
Soul Soup Café Event
More than 80 members of the community attended the final Soul Soup café event, sitting down together to enjoy Harvest Vegetable soup and Curried Parsnip and Apple soup, with Wholemeal and Carrot and Courgette bread, freshly baked in The Hop Garden’s wood oven.
As a result of the Soul Soup project, the Live At Home Scheme and The Hop Garden have both successfully recruited new volunteers to their projects. The artwork remains on the main window of the school’s community annex and continues to attract attention and raise awareness of the space to all who pass by.
Find Out More:
Rowlands Gill and District Live At Home Scheme
High Spen Primary School
The Hop Garden
