Despite lockdown and restrictions Mindfood has managed to continue vital work
Mindfood environmental community charity
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Acton based charity, Mindfood, has been shortlisted for an award recognising the achievements of London's Community and Voluntary Sector.
MindFood CIO supports people with depression, anxiety, stress and loneliness and helps with all mental health issues through gardening, mindfulness and horticulture.
They run (free) 6-session Growing Wellbeing courses in Ealing, at Cleveley Crescent near Hanger Lane tube station and Horsenden Hill near Perivale tube station.
The courses
use gardening and gardening metaphors to guide thinking, discussion, and moving forward.
As well as learning lots about gardening, participants also discuss Wellbeing Mindfulness, Wellbeing Planning, Brain Food, The Mind as an Ecosystem, and get a free group visit to Kew Gardens.
Sustainable City iAwards take place 27 May
Now in its 20th year, the Sustainable City awards celebrate London’s unsung heroes - individuals and organisations who are creating sustainable ways of living. Mindfood has been shortlisted along with four other groups; May Project Gardens, SELCE, Sustainable Merton and The Restart Project, in London's Voluntary and Community Sector Organisation of the year.
This year’s event will be held virtually due to Covid-19 restrictions but organisers say the ceremony is a moment to recognise that even throughout such an unexpected and challenging year, individuals and organisations across London have been developing imaginative solutions and approaches to help Londoners from all backgrounds live, work and spend their leisure time in ways that are good for health, wealth and the planet.
MindFood Founder and Fundraiser Ciaran Biggins said, ''We are delighted that MindFood has been shortlisted and are honoured to be in company with such fantastic projects.The first Lockdown last year meant participants could no longer attend courses at our growing sites and our small and passionate team rapidly adapted to create a brand new 'MindFood at Home' programme, ensuring we could still be there to help people tackle anxiety and depression.
''We offered online Zoom versions of our 6-week Growing Wellbeing course, weekly befriending calls, organised free food growing kits with seeds and compost to be hand-delivered to isolated people so that they could continue to grow from home and join our online sessions, we created a WhatsApp group of current and former participants which has become a great community to share nature news and positivity and when restrictions eased last year we were one of the only organisations in Ealing able to offer in-person support for mental health.
In gardening terms, we hope that MindFood has been like a companion plant that's helped our local community to flourish despite the huge adversity of the last year.''
The Community or Voluntary Sector organisation of the Year will be awarded £2,500 funding to enable them to continue their activities
We wish MindFood the best of luck!
Annemarie Flanagan
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25 May 2021
