A group of local residents and volunteers involved in the Market Drayton Community Partnership and helping to work on actions arising from the Market Drayton Town Plan think it can be !
There are lots of interesting links between the community, food, health and tourism that have helped generate great ideas and even some free food in other towns. The Fordhall Community Land Initiative has gained a small amount of national funding from Making Local Food Work and some facilitation support to fund a meeting to start a discussion.
There is an initial open meeting on Monday 4thFeb, 7pm at the Festival Drayton Centre, where ideas will be discussed, chaired by Charlotte from Fordhall Farm, and guest speakers from Incredible Edible Todmorden and the Plunkett Foundation.
Charlotte is also a volunteer with the Market Drayton Community Partnership Environmental Group. She has had a number of conversations with various groups in Market Drayton around local food through volunteering on the partnership. It became apparent that there were lots of links and partnerships to be made. The funding and resources available from the Plunkett Foundation are allowing Fordhall to support the development of these links further. We hope the meeting on Monday will be full of ideas from the whole community on making Market Drayton IncrEdible.
Some great ideas already been aired by residents involve the planting of more damson trees around the town centre to highlight the towns heritage as the town of the damson, or the collection of fruit from trees in private gardens where people are not able to collect and use the fruit themselves. There may even be possibilities of using scrub land around the town or areas of council land to grow herbs and vegetables!
Most importantly, we want to enjoy ourselves, work collaboratively, have fun and make Market Drayton a better place to for us to live, and hopefully a more interesting place for others to visit. This evening will explore ideas and develop partnerships.
Miriam, a key volunteer from the community partnership said “lets nourish the roots of Market Drayton and see the town grow. These projects have so many benefits for our health, in so many ways. Market towns rely on local networks and local food is a crucial one.”
The hope is that the support from Fordhall can help coordinate initial activities with new volunteers through the Market Drayton Community Partnership. A group that was set up by local residents to help action points from the town plan, to improve the town, bring back a sense of community and make it a better place for everyone.
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| Miriam, Charlotte, Richard, Emma (coordinator) and Clive all volunteers with the Market Drayton Community Partnership |
So fingers crossed for Monday – everyone is welcome, we hope to see you there….
http://www.fordhallfarm.com
Would love to me and learn more about the plans. I would also like to advertise your initiative on my blog if interested