Where to go for free brunch on Boxing Day this Christmas

ST MARY'S Ambleside, is holding a carols by candlelight service at 7pm today (Thursday December 19) and tomorrow at Holy Trinity, Brathay at 6.30pm. Next Tuesday, Christmas Eve, St Mary’s Parish Church will be packed to the doors for the popular family Christingle service which begins at 5.30pm, when the advice will be to arrive early to get a seat. Christingles are made using decorated oranges bound with red tape and studded with sweets, each holding a candle. These will be distributed to the children and once their candles are lit, the church lights are turned off and carols are sung by candlelight. A collection is taken to support the work of the Children’s Society.

AN ACTION plan is being decided upon following Ambleside Action for a Future’s (AAFAF) recent growing events in November at Ambleside Primary School and the Parish Centre. Participants shared ideas about community spaces that could be used for growing, and what participants would like to

grow there. AAFAF, which is a network of local residents working to take action and support one another in the face of possible climate and ecological breakdown, is also in partnership with Cumbria Action for

Sustainability (CAfS). Recently CAfS received a grant to look at how growing in community spaces could help bring people together, at the same time as helping the planet by encouraging people to grow and eat more plant-based foods. This will reduce our carbon footprint, capturing carbon, and supporting biodiversity. More than 50 people attended the Ambleside events, including the School’s young EcoWarrior group, as well as students, young workers, and a 94-year-old resident. The most popular suggestions which arose were to plant a community orchard scheme. Other suggestions included introducing an ‘Incredible Edible’ on the Ambleside Campus, growing food on under-used areas of land and also in window boxes, and there was also enthusiasm for sharing of growing and food skills. Other ideas to be explored further are woodland corridors, appreciation of nature through literature and art, the idea of Friendship/Chat ‘growing benches’, and a tool amnesty, where surplus garden tools can be donated. A further meeting agreed to come up with more detailed plans for workshop and training

activities which take will place before the end of March 2020. The next meeting of the group is Monday January 13 and anyone interested in taking part can find out more on the AAFAF webpage aafaf.uk/index.html or on their Facebook page.

“SWALLOWS and Amazons and the Changing Place of Adventure in Society” is the subject of a free lecture open to all on Monday January 6, 6.30pm, by Professor Chris Loynes and Dr Jamie McPhie, Percival Lecture Theatre, University of Cumbria. The lecture is part of the ‘Negotiating a Cultural Landscape: Writers and Artists in the Lakes’ programme.

IN 2020 the Wordsworth Trust will be celebrating the poet’s 250th birthday as well as the culmination of its National Lottery Heritage Fund supported development project, Reimagining Wordsworth. Alongside the new café and learning space, previously unused outdoor spaces are being opened up, and work has progressed on expanding and modernising the museum, as well as carrying out careful conservation work in Dove Cottage, bringing it even closer to the home of William and Dorothy would have known. Volunteers are needed to assist staff and the Wordsworth is looking for anyone who is keen to connect with people, be active and mindful and share their own expertise and knowledge. To find out more about volunteering, open sessions are being held in the new Learning Space, just around the corner near Dove Cottage on Monday January 13, 1-3pm; Tuesday January 14, 6-8pm, Wednesday January 15,

10-12pm; Thursday January 16, 1-3pm Friday January 17, 10-12pm and Saturday

January 18, 1-3pm. Contact volunteers@wordsworth.org.uk or call 015394 35544.