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connecting people, sharing resources and supporting communities to live more sustainably
Volunteering Opportunities Update for October
Hi Everyone!
There's so much going on in October that we've decided to include a contents list. There are green festivals to get involved with, one off new and ongoing projects, and all kinds of opportunities - and all this before we have even taken on the new group of Local Project Managers that are currently being interviewed!
Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you are organising an event with the help of AfSL and have an upcoming need for volunteers. There is also information about getting support and equipment for your events and projects below.
Have a great October - and happy halloween for the end of the month!
Best wishes
Colin
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Opportunities
- Envirolution
- Apple Extravaganza
- Preserving food
- Leaf Mulch day
- Ardwick Swap Shop
- Envirolution Swap Shop
- Chorlton Big Green Festival organiser meetings
- Natural Recovery gardening project
Also
- Volunteer of the Month: Carolina Scarinci
- Volunteer Social
- Press & Media Success for Moss Cider Event – and for yours?
- Recording Your Events - taking videos & photos
- Manchester: A Certain Future? Climate Change Plan fringe
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Envirolution green festival This is a new green festival for the whole of Manchester, which is being organised with the help of AfSL. There will be five hours of events and workshops, including: The most urgent need for volunteers is for people to help with promotion all through October. That will include, flyering and postering on Saturdays and at events, and helping to reach the widest possible audience online. In association with
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Apple Extravaganza There will be apple tastings of English heritage varieties juicing with our new apple press. A fruity themed 'See More' Trail. Refreshments, including home-made cakes and pies, soup and cheese and chutneys/relishes. There will also be a Car Boot Stall. Come along and learn more about our community orchard and allotment plot, and how you can get involved! Email orchard49@otags.org.uk, see the AfSL page or the Orchards own webpage.
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Preserving Food Demonstration Have you been wanting to learn how to deal with gluts from growing your own food? Janine Lishman Peat from Country Markets will be demonstrating how to preserve using three different techniques. There will be opportunities for questions and tasting during the session. We will be organising some more hands on sessions after this demonstration to develop knowledge about preserving too. Use the park entrance off the Quadrant roundabout and the community centre is over to the left. Parking spacesare limited immediately outside the venue. For more information on this event or to find out about similar events in the area email orchard49@otags.org.uk
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Leaf mulch day Leaf mulch made from fallen autumn leaves is a great help for low maintenance gardening. We hope to bring the community together to make some leaf mulch and do some permaculture gardening. Come down to find out more about what permaculture is, what plans are going on in Whalley Range, and just if you can lend a hand! Further related events will also be arranged for October. For more info Contact Zoe Rozar: zoe.rozar@afsl.org.uk
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Ardwick Swap Shop Volunteers needed to help set up and of course donate clothing. To find out more contact Rebecca: rebecca.krahenbuhl@afsl.org.uk |
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Envirolution festival Swapshop Volunteers needed to help on the stall throughout the day. Please contact Urszula: urszula@afsl.org.uk
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Chorlton Big Green Festival organiser meetings AfSL are very pleased to be continuing their involvement with the Chorlton Big Green Festival. After two very successful years the organisers are hoping to balance the 'festival' aspect with much more of the 'green' aspect. this will involve establishing much wider community and schools involvement in order to communicate lasting skills and knowledge, on how to live sustainably. The festival itself will take place on the 16th of April 2011. Currently they are looking for volunteer organisers to come to monthly meetings and get involved with the planning process. They can get involved with work groups dealing with: funding, publicity and press, music, workshops, stall, food, schools. Email contact@greenchorlton.org.uk
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Natural Recovery gardening project Natural Recovery is a gardening project that takes place at Syrian House, a care home for people with mental health needs. We are now growing organic vegetables and have recived funding to create a sensory garden, which aims to bring pleasure to the residents of the home, other service users and people from the local community. No previous experience is needed. We welcome people with any skills and abilities. To find out more contact Carolina at naturalrecoveryuk@gmail.com, see the AfSL page, or the Natural Recovery website. In addition there are currently two paid roles available with the project: Art and Crafts Teacher and Support Worker
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Volunteer of the Month: Carolina Scarinci Carolina has been volunteering in Ashton-on-Mersey since November. She decided to become an LPM in January and has been incredibly productive ever since. Earlier this year Carolina and a team of volunteers set up a community allotment within the grounds of Syrian House, a residential care home for people with serious mental health needs. The allotment provides residents and other mental health service users in the borough with a chance to interact with nature in a way that helps to aid in their recovery. Last month the team of volunteers, or Natural Recovery as they are collectively known, secured £17,000 of lottery funding to create a sensory garden and deliver a series of art therapy workshops at Syrian House over the next 12 months. This money has helped to secure the future of the project and will allow Natural Recovery to take on more volunteers. Carolina's success has also been recently celebrated at a Marks & Spencer employee volunteer awards ceremony in London. She beat off stiff competition from other Marks and Spencers employees to be crowned the company's best UK volunteer, winning a further £1,000 of funding. Carolina's hard work and dedication to Natural Recovery is a real inspiration and we congratulate her on winning AfSL's Volunteer of the Month. For more on the project see the Natural Recovery gardening project entry above.
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Volunteer Social Now that we are all settled in our new office, we thought we'd invite everyone to our local! the volunteer social is for everyone that volunteers with us, works with us, and for all their friends. Its a chance to come meet each other, introduce friends to AfSL in an informal environment, and just hang out and give each other a pat on the back for all our hard work! So do please come along if you can, it would be great to see you all!
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Press & Media Success for Moss Cider event – and for yours? AfSL Local Project Manager for Moss Side Dan had a really successful apple pressing event. In a bid to show local planners that apple trees should be planted as part of the development that will replace the Stagecoach garage in Moss Side, Dan and his team have volunteers have been demonstrating that local apples won’t go to waste, by pressing them ready to make cider. Our Press & Media was able to interest both the Manchester Evening News and the BBC in covering the event.
To find out more email info@themossciderproject.org, or see the Facebook page and Wikipedia page If you have an upcoming event that you would like help to promote and get coverage of, why not see if Chris can help you too, to develop a press and media plan? Please give us as much notice as possible. Don’t forget to arrange to put your events on the AfSL website calendar too!
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Recording Your Events - taking videos and photos Would you like to have photo or video of the events you are involved with or have organised? AfSL have an incredibly easy to use camcorder called a Flip Camera, and digital cameras that can take high quality photos suitable for publishing, websites, or just for you to keep a record! You can either sign the equipment out yourselves, or ask us to arrange a volunteer to come along and take pictures and video clips for you. We are hoping to build an archive of video clips to show the kinds of things that AfSL volunteers do to add to our photo archive. So do please keep an eye out for events that you think might be suitable. Do please try give as much notice as possible. We also have a badge making machine, so let us know if you think badges might be useful with your events too For more information on signing out equipment give us a ring on 0161 237 3357 or email volunteer@afsl.org.uk
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Council Climate Plan Conference Fringe Events this month AfSL are part of the group organising fringe events in the build up to Manchester City Council’s first conference on their climate change action plan called Manchester: A certain future? which will be held on 30th of November. The fringe events aim to help raise awareness and participation in this event and the plan that follows. * Feeding Manchester #5: A Certain Future for Sustainable Food. For more information on the fringe see AfSL's page or the Call To real Action site.
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