We all need to be part of a healthy community if we are to thrive.

One of the best things to come out of the Covid Crisis was the number of people who stepped up to support the vulnerable in their local community, helping with shopping, walking dogs, offering friendship to the lonely and isolated. It was truly heart-warming to see all the positive stories of the support that was offered.

To help our resilience long-term we also need to look at what we can do to nurture the resources in our environment. In Cumbria we are lucky to be living in a rural community with farms and local produce easily accessible. Additionally we are fortunate to have a number of community farms which are thriving communities in their own right and grow valuable local organic food produce. To promote long term resilience as a community we need to support local sustainable farmers and encourage more local food production to ensure we retain the valuable resources around us which includes our vibrant countryside, an abundant natural resource.

FoodFutures is North Lancashire’s award-winning Sustainable Food Network. They are working to build a collaborative community of practitioners, food citizens, policy makers and researchers that work on food matters in the local area.
www.foodfutures.org.uk

Growing Well is a farm-based Mental Health charity near Kendal.
We provide a safe supportive working environment to nurture mental health recovery.
www.growingwell.co.uk

Growing with Grace is a local organic producer and box scheme that delivers organic vegetables in the local area.
They also have a shop on site based in Clapham.
www.growingwithgrace.org.uk

Claver Hill Field part of Claver Hill Farm is a 6 acre field off Ridge Lane in Lancaster dedicated to allowing local people the opportunity to learn how to grow their own food. You can find details about Claverhill on their Facebook page.

Susan’s Farm is an organic farm certified by the Soil Association.
They farm Longhorn Cattle, North of England Mule Sheep, Geese and Hens.
www.susansfarm.co.uk

The wider community we are part of is, of course, our local natural environment and we each need to play our part in helping nature to thrive for without it we wouldn’t survive. We all need clean air to breathe, water to drink and food to eat.

So we have to preserve nature if the human tribe is to thrive long term. We need to do what we can to help the ecosystem remain healthy and we can start simply by just supporting the pollinators by growing some wild flowers for example and avoiding using any chemicals in our gardens. We can also encourage more food producers to focus on organic methods if we choose organic produce whenever we can and support our local sustainable farmers, helping them to grow.