What a joyful day we have had along with everyone else who turned up for the official opening of the Big Shed at Community Roots. There was cake, there was music, there were plant sales, there was a garden tour and a barefoot seed-bomb making session. There was an amazing plant based lunch and then of course, the Ceremony of the Cutting of the Ribbon. Only it wasn’t a ribbon, the bow and ‘ribbon’ had been braided during the day out of reeds and daffodil leaves and it was very beautiful. There were speeches, the most moving of all, one based on the daily thanksgiving of the Onondaga Nation. And, the sun shone all day! Please enjoy the gallery and click on any for a bigger version and the caption.
The Big Shed
Nasturtium flowers being used to decorate lunch
Musician talking to the crowd
Ready for the Ceremony to begin
The braided bow and ‘ribbon’
Brazilian Carrot Cake
Victoria Sponge
Wild flower seed bombs
About to cut the ribbon
The ribbon is cut
Jaclarabag, the band
For all the joy, times are hard. Along with the invitation came this ‘ask.’ I thought you might like to know the bigger story.
The Ask
Looks can be deceptive, and behind our beautiful new building, we find ourselves in a very precarious financial position. Growing food and community in planet positive ways just isn’t financially sustainable, and with the Hungry Gap this year (when we have very few crops ready to sell) we are struggling to make ends meet. Also, while the new building will eventually help us diversify our income, before it does that it is costing us money, and we don’t have the time to organise all the great things we know could be happening in it. To help us through this tricky period we really need an injection of money, so we’ve launched a Crowdfunder and we’ve secured match funding, so that every pound donated is doubled by Aviva, with an additional £5,000 of match funding being added from Cornwall Council’s Climate and Nature fund. If you’re able to support us at all, we would be incredibly grateful, and if you aren’t able to donate, sharing our Crowdfunder with others is also incredibly helpful. If you follow us on Facebook or Instagram, liking, commenting and sharing posts makes a huge difference to how visible things are.
To see the Crowdfunder, to donate or to share it, please click here.
