This is a blog for you if

This is blog is for you if you are serving families, mother, father, children in Leicestershire to
- To take care of what we have in common: The planet
- To encourage them to be open and inclusive of others
- To support them in sharing their gifts for the local economy to be more resilient.

If you tick more than one of this boxes, i am inviting you
- To Get inspired by the stories of people who are in Leicestershire trying to enact change and empowered people to direct their lives
- To share those stories to people around you so they can get inspired
- To submit your story.

Why? Because the power of stories can change the world as long as they are shared widely.

So get sharing!

About me

My name is Marie. I live in Leicestershire since 2012. In my first year of arrival, i engaged with Transition Leicester, Positive Money and Footpaths Leicester. I ran the positive money leicester group.  I organised events, a discussion group and the Money workshop to help people reflect upon their relationship with money. I also train as a facilitator to run a Footpaths group to support group and families to reduce their carbon footprint. End of 2014, Zina Zelter from Footpaths and I, we decided to run a year of events culmutating into a day of festival: The Green Festival of Making and Mending. From the festival, Leicester Fixers emerged and has been running Restart Parties since May 2015. In 2018, The project received a grant from Leicestershire County Council to help set up 6 repair communities across Leicestershire. It is currently the main project I am working on.

Apart from those projects, I work and study. I freelance for The Crop Club a social enterprise which supports people to grow food. I have a certificate in Permaculture and teaches from time to time at the Permaculture course in Leicester. I am also a doctorate from Loughborough Design School. My thesis is on the factors influencing user repair propensity. I support students with their work.

Outside of it all, i am a keen dancer (salsa), a beginner violonist, i draw with wax crayons and garden. I live with my husband, embrace our mixed heritage and spend lot of time with our family.

in facilitating a Footpaths Leicester grouprun projects to engage family's members with different communities of knowledge and this mainly through events.

The blog provide an account of the progress of some of the projects and how you can get involved and it features different initiatives in Leicestershire that engage the public on enbironmental and social

Benefits of growing your own fruits and vegetables

There are many benefits to start growing your own fruits and vegetables.

For you and your family, the benefits are as follow: 

• Fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables from your own garden are higher in nutrients than the ones that have travelled several thousand miles to get to your grocery store.
• Having your children assist you in the garden can increase the chance that they will eat more of the fruits and vegetables they have helped to grow
• Growing your own fruits and vegetables can offer you the opportunity to reduce the amount of pesticides that you use in your garden, making them healthier.
• Growing your own fruits and vegetables will save your money at the grocery store.
• Gardening increases physical activity. It is a great way to engage the whole family in physical activity and lets them help to take responsibility for the garden.
• The fruits and vegetables grown in your garden will promote health because they are rich in nutrients, especially in phytochemicals, anti-oxidants, vitamin C, vitamin A and folate.
• Gardening gives you’re a real sense of appreciation when you can see the bounty of your efforts.
• Growing a garden gives you a new appreciation for nature when you can have the opportunity to see how things grow.
• Gardening may stimulate many new interests. You may want to learn more about botany, landscape architecture, photography, nutrition, and farmer’s markets.
• Gardening gives you the opportunity to give back. If you have an abundant garden, you might give some of your produce to the local soup kitchen or food bank.
• This can be a great time to create memories with your children, memories that can last a lifetime.
• Your garden can lead to new skills, and knowledge for you and your family, your child may have a new found interest to become a chef

Society and Community 

• Gardens can foster a great sense of community through parent to parent connections, teacher to student or student to student.
• Schools and community may decide to build a community or school garden. This is a tremendous learning tool for all involved as well a providing a source of nutritious fruits and vegetables.
• A community/school garden can help to foster and motivate future leaders (e.g., 4-H afterschool programs).
• Neighbourhood Community Gardens beautify the landscape, support local farmers, can create a food secure community where residents do not need to rely on vendors to supply fresh produce.

Environment 
• Tall fruit trees provide shade.
• You can use less pesticides or use natural pesticides and this will be less contamination to the environment.
• Produce peels and waste can create a lot of green waste and takes up a lot of space in the garbage can. Recycle them to make your own compost. It is less expensive than buying fertilizers.
• Turn unsightly lands into attractive landscapes.
• Get creative. There is a potential to grow an innovative garden like futuristic horticulture gardens that are very cost-effective and require substantially less space.

My story joining the Permaculture community

I was alone... In my big house.
My garden was a mess and little did I know that the dream of making it beautiful will bring me to join the Permaculture community in Leicester.

I put a message on Facebook: ''would anyone help me design my garden?''
Someone responded: ''I can, I need to add a design to my portfolio, I can help''

We've met and she told me about the Permaculture course running in my town.
I was taken.
I gave it a go and I met wonderful people there.
My garden transformed, further
My skills and knowledge on how to grow food too.

New Relationships made me evolved.
Few years later, I met Rose from the Crop Club and advised her to join the course too.

All happened for a reason that goes beyond our understanding

The Jackal & The Giraffe

The jackal barks and makes a lot of noise. It wants to be heard. I wants to be understood. The bark is high-pitched, repetitive and forlorn. It stands guard letting me know that there is something going on within. It barks to get through the barriers, to be noticed 'Come give me the love, acceptance and appreciation that I so want'. Instead of coming closer, people run away or bark back.
'That's not what I want' say the Jackal. The disappointment turns to anger.
'How could I be so stupid to ask for friendship? I should have known better' bark the Jackal.

The giraffe stretches its long neck and views the whole picture. It can see the filters through which we talk, it can see over the filters through which we listen. The giraffe listens and talks with its big heart. When the giraffe talks it has kindness and compassion. 'I understand that I am trying my best, I can see the need I have for intimacy, I respect my feelings of insecurity. From here I can see where people are coming from, where they would like to go. I can see their need for quiet and time alone' say the giraffe.

Extract fron Looby Macnamara - People & Permaculture

Designers of Money Futures - Permaculture

The latest Permaculture session I had was 'Money Futures'.

We discussed the reasons why we need Money, the impact of money on the global and living world.
Questions were asked about the other alternatives of money and whether we could do without it.

It became clear that the discussion was a difficult one to have as we recognise our needs to belong.
We recognise our needs to improve our surroundings.
We recognise how much unskilled and clueless we were.
We recognise the power of money in making our wishes reality by filling the gap of our own inabilities.

Human relationship is probably the most expensive commodity. It forces some to enter the rat-race for happiness and belonging.

It is an unfortunate conclusion. Luckily enough, it is not the end of the story. There are many alternatives to money and the gift economy is actually in scale a lot more prominent that people might think. It is not promoted on television but for sure it exists. Join a voluntary group, knock on your neighbour's door, use freecycle and streetbank, define the community you want to be part of and let go of the rest. A system cannot be changed, another one need to emerge to replace it. Let's be the designers of our destiny!

Zone 00, my fish tank

Zone 00 is an attempt in Permaculture design to describe the self in vast system divided in zones.
If you were to redesign your garden for example, zone 5 could be the area for the wildlife to strive whilst zone 0 could be your house.

Zone 00 is personal and is defined by our actions, experiences, choices.

The question was asked if we had to take away from the zone 00:
- the most important relationship we have
- the object we most cherish
- the best memory we have
- the favourite part of our body
What would be left?

Some answered a feeling of pain and isolation. Other answered the soul and/or essence. I thought for a moment. For me the answer was an idea.

N'oubliez pas que dans le mensonge, il y a le songe mais dans la verité il n'y a pas grand chose

Do not forget that in a lie (fabrication), there is a fiction (a dream) but in the truth, there is nothing much.

The realisation of the truth give us greater freedom in creating our own reality. The story we tell ourselves when making hard choices is probably the most important tool we have. With it, we gain greater emotional resilience to start any grand scheme and battle.

Enjoy your gift!
Make your zone 00 your fish tank in the deep sea of possibilities...