Friday 29 April 2011

The 2011 Big Lunch - you're invited!


The Big Lunch inspired an estimated one million people to have lunch with their neighbours across the UK last year - including over two hundred who picnicked, partied and played together in Cuthill Park. 

The 2011 Big Lunch on Sunday 5 June (12-2 pm) coincides with the 3 Harbours Arts Festival and Mural Fest - what better chance to join in the al fresco fun? 

Enjoy an outdoor lunch in the company of friends, neighbours and community groups. Bring your own picnic, something to sit on, and entertainment. You’ll enjoy it. Really. Food, music and laughter tastes, sounds and feels better with others.

The trouble is we’re all human and deep down we’re often shy. It’s not easy making small talk. It takes courage to stop being a stranger. But once you do, you’ll realise how many good, talented and interesting people there are in
your neighbourhood who all feel the same way you do. Those who took part last year know that on the day, those inhibitions soon disappear in a game of Twister.

Six more reasons to get stuck in
  1. To stoke up community spirit – we call it Human Warming. 
  2. To make the third of us who live alone feel happier, closer and...friendlier. 
  3. To show how local people can change a neighbourhood for good, forever. 
  4. To conquer our natural shyness, to open our curtains, doors and minds and look out for one another the way we used to.
  5. To share stories, skills and tools, so we all end up richer in every sense. 
  6. To discover common ground across age, class, faith, race and the garden fence, and to remind ourselves that charity begins at home, or at most, a couple of doors away.
If you want to register on the Big Lunch website that would be great, but feel free just to turn up on the day.  If you want to organise something, perform or promote your organisation that's fine too - just remember the emphasis is on Free, Community and the Environment and let us know your plans.

Thursday 21 April 2011

Hide the Humps - Plant a Flower!

Eggsciting News!

Excuse the pun, but we're rather excited at having 100 Followers on Twitter. We'll be posting and tweeting much more in the days leading up to Big Lunch.  You can follow our tweets at @cuthillpark. 

We used Twitter recently to record the Cuthill Park bluebells on the National Trust's Bluebell Map.  We think they are Spanish bluebells as they don't have the graceful curve of the British bluebell which has all its flowers on one side of the stem.

If you're an outdoorsy type you will love the National Trust's free 20 page download A Pocket Portal to Nature

We highly recommend families to take a look at the Woodland Trust's Nature Detectives website which is packed full of activities and games to play in the park.
Easter scavenger hunt nature detectives wildlife club arrow scavenger hunt
spring nature trail ticklist nature detectives wildlife club arrow spring nature trail kit 
Easter egg large nature detectives wildlife club arrow egg trail
large rabbit picture nature detectives wildlife club arrow Easter bunny trail
Easter hunt sheet nature detectives wildlife club arrow spotter sheet
 nest challengenature detectives wildlife club arrownest building challenge
chocolate Easter nests nature detectives wildlife club arrow Easter nests recipe
easter basket nature detectives wildlife club arrow Easter basket
rabbit ears nature detectives wildlife club arrow rabbit mask
Easter card nature detectives wildlife club arrow Easter card template
forest floor cake ingredients nature detectives wildlife club arrow forest floor cake
Easter wordsearch nature detectives wildlife club arrow wordsearch
lamb jigsaw puzzle nature detectives wildlife club arrow lamb jigsaw puzzle
Lesser celandine 'spot the difference' nature detectives wildlife club arrow spot the difference
easter chick nature detectives wildlife club arrow Easter chick art sheet
rabbit outline nature detectives wildlife club arrow rabbit art sheet 

Hope you all have a great Easter break - and remember the slopes of Cuthill Park are perfect for rolling eggs down!

Thursday 7 April 2011

How to plant lots of bulbs

(Click on the image to make Jan and Sarah work faster!)

Join us for more bulb planting this Saturday, 9 April from 10 a.m. till 12.