And Breathe Bridport

 Over a period of two days the Trustees of The Burrough Harmony Centre put on over 50 health and wellbeing focussed activities around the town. With the aim of raising awareness of mental health issues they provided activities and learning that everyone can get involved with in order to improve our mental,  physical, and overall wellbeing. On Monday I baked my favourite Coffee and Walnut cake and took it, along with others provided by the Ladies of Colmer W.I. (Bridport) to the Town Hall for anyone who visited to enjoy for free.

Bridget and I spent some time viewing the information stands of Dorset based Health and Wellbeing organisations and talking to the various representatives including some of the Harmony volunteers.

Exhale

It concluded on Tuesday evening with a finale at the Electric palace and I was asked to introduce the event – “Exhale.”

It was a an evening of great entertainment consisting of poetry by the Spoken Word ( mostly from Harmony creative writing workshops), storytelling by Martin Maudsley, music and singing  by Mutter Slater as well as the Skalatans and uniquely by Isaiah Dreads who were the first Hiphop/Rapping performers that I have seen in Bridport. Isiah’s lyrics often touch on subjects that other rappers don’t such as the importance of mental health and the speed at which the lyrics were delivered was incredible!

The combination of “And Breathe Bridport” with  “Exhale “     together formed a celebration of World Mental Health day,  which is 10th Oct.  The members, staff and trustees of Harmony wanted to raise awareness of the importance of mental health to everybody’s wellbeing.  And so, with the help and involvement of many local groups, individuals and organisations, our Community has been able to find out about the support  available locally, to try new activities and  find new ways to support their wellbeing.

Looking after your mental health and wellbeing is just as important as looking after your physical health and both often go hand in hand on the journey to recovery.

The aim of “ And Breath…Bridport “    and    “Exhale”  is to make this an annual Bridport event around World Mental Health day which should prove to be yet another event not to be missed in this wonderfully vibrant town of ours.

Lions Annual Swimathon

On Sunday morning I had the pleasure of starting the Swimathon at the Leisure Centre, the first since Covid forced cancellation of the event. Talking to the President of Bridport Lions Club, Mr. Clive Greenaway, I was amazed to find out that, historically, the event had raised over £86,000 for local communities.

It seems that illness prevented a few of the teams from turning up on the day but considering that they had fewer teams this year the expected amount of money raised is in excess of £3000.00  which is a wonderful amount for our local community groups to benefit from.

Jurassic Multicultural Family Event

 On Sunday Bridget and I went along to the event organised by the Jurassic Multicultural group held in the Bridport Children’s Centre in St. Mary’s school.

Jurassic Multicultural is a community group whose aim is to support people from different cultures/faiths and ethnicities in Bridport and the surrounding areas.  They have around 60 members of all ages, representing all corners of the world including Zimbabwe, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Palestine, Afghanistan, El Salvador, Mexico, Japan, Philippines, India, Caribbean, Malaysia, Indonesia, Ukraine, Romania, and the UK.

They meet twice a month at Bridport Children’s Centre:

1pm on the 1^st Saturday of each month – Tends to be more family orientated.

7pm on the 2^nd Monday of each month

These gatherings are an opportunity for people to spend time together, play, eat and share experiences in a safe setting.  We also occasionally run workshops to introduce different aspects of their cultures.

If people would like more information, they can email Harriet at jurassicmulticultural@gmail.com

The afternoon started with a children’s Yoga class and this was followed by a Ukranian Food fermentation masterclass entitled

“Ukranian Food Culture, Fermentation and its Contribution to National Cuisine”

The class was led by Olya who explained the fermentation process as distinct from a pickling process and the cultural side and social benefits of people meeting for a common purpose – in this particular case it was to be sauerkraut!

Time for me to prove my cabbage squeezing technique needed improvement!

After the class I had a long talk with Caroline Richards, Dorset Food and Drink Coordinator, who told me that Dorset Food and Drink are very keen to explore opportunities and strengthen links they already have with Bridport. They were already supporting the Jurassic Multicultural food events and she explained about a Dorset project called FLAVOURS which was of great interest to me with Bridport becoming even more multicultural. Please click the link for more about FLAVOURS and for more about Dorset Food and Drink:

Web: www.dorsetfoodanddrink.org  Twitter: @DorsetFoodDrink

Caroline says that she has already worked with “Daryl Chambers and his fab team” on events and markets in the past and she is excited by the opportunity to perhaps help kickstart new food businesses from the multicultural sector in Bridport and showcase them at the market, with a view to a longer term offer. Her final comment was “There’s so much going on in Bridport so it would be great to see what evolves!

I am sure Daryl and the Town Council would be interested in exploring possibilities for the future.

Bulbs Planted on Riverside Gardens

My thanks to members of Bridport’s Gardening Club for planting several sacks of daffodils and some crocuses on Riverside Meadow. The bulbs they planted last year, when they burst into bloom over several weeks, were a wonderfully cheerful herald of spring and the summer to come. I for one am really looking forward to seeing an even larger display of these lovely flowers when they emerge next spring.

Following their efforts the planting team were rewarded with tea and coffee courtesy of The Bridge House, so thanks all round.

 Coming Up

 

• 1. Bridport Community Orchard event: This Saturday the Community Orchard will be hosting a fundraising event in Bucky-Doo Square. They will be selling bottles of their delicious juice and a selection of home- made produce at the Farmers Market , please come along and give them your support.

• 2.Bridport Rugby Club Tag festival this Saturday starts around 9.30 and prize giving should be around 12.00 ( Mayor on duty) so please come along and watch the budding young talent show their skills. It is always an exciting event with much energy , excitement and sportsmanship on display. I am told there are around 12 schools taking part in the festival so there will be plenty of games to watch – and I think the bar will probably be open!
• 3. The annual Mayor’s Quiz is on Sunday the 19^th of November and has proven to be extremely popular and not a spare table to be had last year! Please get a team together and join in the fun again this year. We will be holding it in the Youth and Community Centre again, there will be a raffle and a Bar and any profits will go to the Mayor’s charities which are: Bridport Youth and Community Centre and the Bridport Community Kitchen, both excellent causes and both provide so much in our town it is a pleasure to be able to help them.

Which rendezvous point will you be heading for on Sunday morning?