After a weekend of inspiration at Cornwall’s Eden Project, one Newcastle woman has returned home with plans to hold Big Lunches to connect people in two Newcastle estates.
Between March 17 and 20, Kathy Black, Secretary of Unit-T in Newcastle was one of just 60 individuals, drawn from across the UK, to be invited to attend Eden’s Community Camp.
Run by the Eden Project Communities team, the sessions are designed to help local activists tackle disconnected communities, an issue that costs the UK £32 billion every year, according to recent research commissioned by Eden Project initiative The Big Lunchand funded by the Big Lottery Fund.
Kathy Black founded a local charity group called Unit T in 2013 to provide a range of creative classes for children within the community and it quickly expanded to a community hub thanks to Big Lottery funding
She said: “We have a fantastic hard-working committee and eight volunteers who help us run the group now. We run a community hub with weekly kids art world workshops, ladies creative classes, cookery school, after school recycling crafts, ceramic classes and now the very successful monthly Mourne Markets which give local producers a platform to sell their homemade goods.
“Following my time with new people and inspirational speakers at the Eden Project weekend I have a clearer focus on how I can be more actively involved within my community.
“I am making small changes in how I connect with people and share ideas, and I now know I can help to inspire and promote other people to share their skills and create healthier connected communities.
“It was amazing inspirational weekend. I have learnt so much about social isolation and how simple steps we can take like sharing a lunch together can help bring communities together.”
After her visit, Kathy joins Eden’s 1000-plus strong UK-wide network of community activists dedicated to bringing together neighbourhoods. She added: “People feel happier, safer and more content when they know their neighbours and 94% of people who visit these camps go on to connect their communities using a skill or information they’ve learned here. We can’t wait to see how Kathy’s ideas develop,” said Eden Project executive director Peter Stewart.
The research released last month, carried out by the Centre of Economics and Business Research, shows that neighbourliness already delivers substantial economic benefits to UK society, representing an annual saving of £23.8billion for the economy.
This saving comes from sharing between neighbours, an increase in social connection and reductions in the demands on public services such as healthcare, social care, welfare and the environment.
“Starting to benefit from these savings can come from a simple act like getting to know your neighbours by holding a Big Lunch on June 18,” added Stewart.
