March News Update- Bowersdale Resource Day Centre!

March at the BRC has been a very lively time. We finally got to host our Christmas party which wasn’t able to go ahead back in December, due to issues with our heating system. Although our party was late, it was held the day before St Patrick ’s Day and our service users enjoyed the DJ who played a variety of Irish music. We had a large buffet which was very well received and service users enjoyed a cheeky tipple! Everyone loved having a dance and one of our service users Joyce made comment that “it’s the best party I’ve been to in a long time”. Thank you to all who came and we are looking forward to our next party.

We had a productive service user meeting this month and updated service users of our upcoming events. Service users have requested a pool tournament in the BRC which we will be planning to do in the next quarter. Pool tournaments have always been very competitive but a lot of fun. Service users have also requested to expand our tuck shop, which has been very successful since we put it in place at the BRC and asked if we can provide some lunch items such as pies and sausage rolls. So we have added these to our tuck shop and they have been very popular.

Our Green fingered Support Worker Donna signed the BRC up to ‘Keep Britain Tidy” which pledges 10 bags of litter picking between the 17^th March and 2^nd April. Service users have been working hard picking up litter in the local area and in and around Bowersdale Park. We are very proud to be part of a meaningful campaign for our community.

After our huge gardening project our garden is looking fantastic and is all complete. Our beautiful spring bulbs are beginning to flourish and we have harvested mint, parsley and lettuce in our planters in our front garden. Not only have we successfully harvested some tasty goodness we have also set up a worm farm! The wormery enabled us to create our very own organic fertilizer for our crops. Worms are fed via our own food waste which they then create the compost for us to use. This is a very sustainable and environmentally friendly way of growing our fresh veg. Service users have been extremely interested in learning and participating in our green projects and have expressed their new love for nature and growth!

We have also been lucky to be a part of The Queen’s Green Canopy scheme,  creating a living legacy with over a million trees planted in Her Majesty’s name across the nation during the first planting season of the year. We now have our own Bowersdale Resource Centre Queen’s Green Canopy Trees!

The link to The Queen’s Green Canopy scheme Tree map is;

https://queensgreencanopy.org/map-education-hub/qgc-map/#/

See if you can find our trees!

March has ended on a very positive note as we celebrated World Bipolar Day on the 30^th of March. Service users participated in creating a sign that we put up on the front door of the BRC, which members of the public were able to see as they went past, allowing us to show our support and spread awareness. Service users enjoyed discussing Bipolar and one of our service users diagnosed with Bipolar bravely shared some insight into what it is like to live with it. We also educated service users on why World Bipolar Day is celebrated on the 30^th March, which is due to the birthday of the famous artist Vincent Van Gough, who had been diagnosed with Bipolar after he died. As recognition for this, service users coloured in his famous painting ‘sunflowers’. They were able to make it their own or to copy Van Gough’s version. Service users also enjoyed some tasty cakes and one of our members even created a fantastic sketch of Van Gough.