1. We have recently changed our name, brand and put it out there with a launch celebration. We are beginning to become known as Dandelion or Dandelion Community...The Dandelion Community is an umbrella for a range of different streams including: The Dandelion Food Community offering volunteering opportunities on our allotment with fruit trees, chickens, ducks and other wild planting, Red Tent Manchester - a gathering open to all women the first Saturday monthly 7.30-9pm offering a creative and healing space, messychurch wythenshawe which has recently renamed as The Dandylion Club - a family messyplay time with food, activities, meditation and storytelling for small children up to primary school age, St. Marks United Reformed Church - an open and welcoming christian community gathering weekly on Sundays 11am -12noon and more.
2. We currently host: monthly Arnica gatherings (last Sat monthly 2-4pm) supporting families with natural health, immunity, nutrition and vaccination information, weekly Community Art Night (Tues 7.30pm-9pm) open to all adults, Wythenshawe Smash the Cuts meetings fortnightly from 15th May alternate Weds 7.30-9pm for local people to come together for support, information and advice about their benefit cuts and changes in housing bands, DLA, universal credits etc
3. We offer chaplaincy to Tree of Life Centre on a weekly basis on Wednesday afternoons or by appointment.
4. We have been supporting people in their search for emergency housing, in visiting local people who are ill, lonely or bereaved (please ask if you know of someone in Woodhouse Park who would appreciate a visit and contact us via this blog or facebook The Dandelion Community)
5. We have joined the Real Food Wythenshawe collection of people working busily with volunteers, food and trying to ensure a central food bank is opened in Wythenshawe. It looks like FareShare are going to offer this in Wythenshawe so all those who showed interest in becoming volunteers - watch this space for more news!
6. We have been asked to write about The Dandelion Community for a new offline in-the-hand journal called The Barefoot Diaries and invited to give a seminar about The Dandelion Community as a model of church transition. We will also share about our new identity at our next Mission Partners Conference in June with a handful of United Reformed and Baptist churches in Greater Manchester and we are keeping focussed on writing our business mission plan for the next few years for The Dandelion Community.
Hope you will be able to share in connecting with us and praying with us as we seek to visit Forest Church in Stockport over the next couple of months, get our articles and seminars and business plan completed and pursue our sense of call - being rooted in Wythenshawe with Wythenshawe people as dandelions are rooted. The more we draw up from the land of wythenshawe and its rich traditions and stories, the more we connect with Spirit - hope and peace to you all in these changing times. Kate
