COMMUNITIES staying connected is important to bring people together, a former social worker has said after reflecting on the last 18 months.
Outside Lives Ltd is a community focused, not for profit organisation based in Gwernymynydd near Mold which started in 2018 by ex-Social Worker, Lucy Powell.
Their main aim is to bring together members of the community, connecting people of all ages and abilities through shared interests by providing activities and events that support personal and community wellbeing and that also celebrate and protect the beauty of the natural environment.
The team at Outside Lives have played host to a range of wonderful outdoor events, designed, and delivered in co-production with the community. Thanks to the dedication of Founder Lucy, they now have a large and growing number of local volunteers and participants who regularly attended events and continue to support the ongoing development of their sustainable, nature-based site.
Face-to-face events were placed on hold in March of last year due to Covid-19 and it forced the very hands-on team to look to new ways of engaging with members and providing the support that they knew would be a lifeline for many individuals in the community.
Thanks to funding received from WCVA, the team were quickly able to take everything online, delivering a range of predominantly art, craft, engagement and wellbeing initiatives to those who needed them most.
This included setting up a number of special interest groups that encouraged individuals to keep communicating through lockdowns - whether this was through a love of growing vegetables, looking after nature in their gardens, taking part in yoga and wellbeing sessions online, or providing cooking inspiration and community quizzes.
It was a coming together of like-minded people that helped many members of the community, both local and further afield, to stay connected and engaged through lockdown.
Fast forward to August this year and the team have spent a great deal of time over the last few months, preparing for the much-anticipated return of face to face, in person events.
Outside Lives launched their first new events at the start of August and have delivered a wonderful range of small events on site, many of which have sold out fast.
Events to date have been predominantly creative, Artist-led sessions such as, jewellery making, willow art, sewing sessions and forest school sessions for children, with many more events planned in the coming months.
Sessions are presently in small numbers so that people feel comfortable reconnecting with the community, but as confidence grows these will be readdressed.
Lucy Powell, Founder and Director of Outside Lives said: "We’ve been delighted with the take up and feedback from our new events so far, and it feels so good to be doing this again.
"I think we’ve all missed interacting with people, it’s human nature to want to be in the company of others and so from a wellbeing perspective, we are super keen to be supporting folks to start engaging in events that allow them to do that.
"The simplicity of learning something new and engaging in a passion such as watercolours or making something whilst having a brew and a chat is something we’ve all missed hugely.
"It’s already great to see people relishing this, but importantly still respecting each other’s space etc.
"This has been a tough time for so many folks, especially those people who’ve shielded throughout, so whilst opening up is great, we are trying to make this a safe space, where people can be confident in attending in person events here on site."
They also offer a range of digital events, such as online crafting sessions etc, offering people who still wish to get involved in their own time, or feel safer online that in person
Lucy added: “We’ve learned a lot from the last year or so about the importance of communities staying connected. Activities and events are an important way of bringing connection into communities and bringing people together, they help to create a support network that supports the building of bonds and relationships, and we’re excited to be part of this again.”
There are lots of events scheduled for the remainder of August and the start of September, including ongoing sewing and craft sessions every Wednesday morning at Mold Rugby Club, needlework sessions and an in-person watercolour session onsite at Outside Lives, plus watercolour and craft sessions online.
More information can be found at outsidelivesevents.org.
Share