Cosy up this autumn at Delapré Abbey’s first eco-conscious fair

Posted on 15th October 2021 by Delapré Abbey

Join us for a sustainable Sunday full of activity focussed on plastic free living. Expect stalls, live demonstrations, and family-friendly activities.

Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust (DAPT) have partnered with eco-focussed business, GoodToBee, to bring the public their first eco fair at Delapré Abbey. From 11am-4pm on Sunday 24th October, visitors will be able to enjoy foraging demos, talks on beekeeping and honey tasting, plus a variety of stalls selling sustainable chocolate, beeswax wraps, recycled children’s clothing and more.

Stallholders include The Naturally Vegan Food Company, Coffee Refill Van, Rockit Kids, Harker’s Fudge, Pada Botanicals, and Nenette Chocolates. Partners GoodToBee will be offering demonstrations and showcasing their beeswax wraps and unpaper towels – plastic free and waste free alternatives to everyday essentials.

Madeline Willis, Founder and Director of GoodToBee said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Delapré Abbey to help bring a sustainable and ethical festival to Northamptonshire. Putting community at the heart of our joint passion to inspire simple green swaps at the centre of family life.”

Shanice Webber, Commercial and Events Officer at Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust said “We can’t wait to welcome to Delapré’s first ever Eco Fair. This is a great opportunity to discover local produce with planet friendly demonstrations, stalls, gifts and food. We are excited to be hosting an event with sustainability at the forefront, so wrap up warm and head down to Delapré for a hot drink and a fun-filled Sunday!”

DAPT’s key priorities as an organisation are to improve access to heritage and culture, and to connect people with improved wellbeing and the environment. The Trust hopes that ‘GoodToBee Green’ will be the first of many eco-focussed events created with a key goal of sustainability in mind.

The Trust, which is a finalist in the ‘Community Project of the Year’ category at the 2021 Northamptonshire Business Excellence Awards for its community Annual Pass scheme, is supporting the local environment and community through various initiatives including a new Thriving Communities-funded wellbeing programme alongside partners from across the town, and University of Northampton’s cup recycling scheme ‘Up for the Cup’. All these projects are contributing to a greener future at Delapré Abbey.

A magical Christmas is also guaranteed at Delapré Abbey with tickets selling fast for their Christmas Fair (27th and 28th November), Candlelit Tours, Wreath Making workshops, and Santa’s Grotto. Tickets will go on sale for their recently announced Winter Light Trail later this month.

Tickets for the eco fair are free, with a suggested donation of £3, and can be booked here.

The safety of visitors, volunteers and staff is a key priority to the Abbey team, and they are proud to be part of Visit Britain’s Good to Go scheme, which means you can visit safe in the knowledge that they adhere to government and industry COVID-19 guidelines.

june, 2023

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thu25mayAll Daythu13julThis Grief ThingGrief gatherings are small, free group conversations about grief and they're open to all.(All Day)

Event Details

Thu 25th May – Sat 29th July, various times and locations
Free, booking required
Sessions will last a maximum of 2 hours

This Grief Thing is a project that invites people to think, talk and learn about grief. We’re living at a time when many people find death and grief – our own grief or other people’s – almost impossible to talk about. We don’t know what to say, what to do, or how to act. So we stay silent, we pretend that grief doesn’t exist, or we hide it. This Grief Thing pushes against this, by opening up conversations about grief and making it visible.

As part of our wellbeing programme we are pleased to be working with Fevered Sleep who have created Grief Gatherings. They’re small, free group conversations about grief and they’re open to all. They’re for people who have experienced grief, and for people who haven’t. This will be an inclusive space. Any age, gender, race, faith welcome.
We’ll share thoughts, feelings, ideas and experiences. If you don’t wish to talk that’s fine, people are welcome to just be present.

This project is a partnership between Delapré Abbey and Fevered Sleep and is funded by Northamptonshire Community Foundation.

Dates and Locations

Thu 25th May, 2-4pm, Umbrella Fair
This Grief Thing host: Laura Graham

Mon 5th June, 6:30-8:30pm, Saints Coffee
This Grief Thing host: David Bowden

Thu 15th June, 2-4pm, Umbrella Fair
This Grief Thing host: Laura Graham

Sat 24th June, 2-4pm, Delapré Abbey
This Grief Thing host: Lisa Lovett

Mon 10th July, 6:30pm-8:30pm, Saints Coffee
This Grief Thing host: David Bowden

Thu 13th July, 2-4pm, Umbrella Fair
This Grief Thing host: Laura Graham

Sat 29th July, 2-4pm, Delapré Abbey
This Grief Thing host: Lisa Lovett

How to get to each location

Saints Coffee: 62 St Giles’ St, Northampton NN1 1JW (map)

Umbrella Fair: Racecourse Pavilion, Kettering Rd, Northampton NN1 4LG (map)

Delapré Abbey (this session will be held in our Library): London Road, Northampton, NN4 8AW (map)

Meet the hosts

Laura Graham
Laura Graham is a freelance writer and content creator based in Northampton. In 2009 she lost her mum to breast cancer, a loss that changed her life and taught her about the complexities of grief. She went on to work for a local charity on a project to support people coming towards the end of life. She believes that grief is the last taboo and hopes that grief gatherings will enable participants to feel connected and seen by their community.

David Bowden
Dave Bowden – A.K.A Word Guerrilla – is a poet and performer. Utilising beatboxing, live looping and multi-instrumentalism, he delivers Word Guerrilla’s unique brand of spoken word poetry performances and workshops to a variety of different educational settings, workplaces and events across the country. As an educator and creative facilitator, he seeks to generate creativity in people through writing, empowering them with language and words.
He believes that grief is ever- present, and like bits of glitter: long after you think it has gone, it continues to turn up everywhere, often unexpectedly. It can be challenging to make sense of grief and adapt to it. Dave wants to facilitate grief gatherings to help others understand the experience, giving them a space to articulate how they think and feel about the process of grieving and help others adapt to the experience of grief.

Time

May 25 (Thursday) - July 13 (Thursday)

Buy here

Book Tickets

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sun28may(may 28)11:00 amsun29oct(oct 29)4:00 amExhibition: "The Walled Garden Was Magical"An exhibition of your memories of the gardens.(may 28) 11:00 am - (october 29) 4:00 am

Event Details

Sunday 28th May – Sunday 29th October
11am-4pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays
Entry included in the price of general admission (£8 adults, under 18s free)

“The walled garden was magical… the absolute treasure.” Councillor David Smith

This exhibition explores the vast history of Delapré Abbey’s gardens and tells the stories of those who have worked here over the centuries to make beautiful outdoor spaces for the house owners and, subsequently, for the general public to enjoy.

There have been gardens here since the opening of the nunnery in 1145. On Saturday 19^th July 1952, Delapré Abbey’s gardens opened to the public and have continued to be a place open for all to enjoy. As Alderman J.V. Collier said upon their opening 71 years ago: “The gardens offer a haven of rest away from the milling crowds. Within almost a stone’s throw of the centre of the town, we have something unique.”

Timed to coincide with the centenary year of Delapré Abbey’s water garden, the exhibition captures and celebrates the local communities’ memories of Delapré through photos, text, ephemera and oral history.

Whether you enjoyed the walled garden as a child, have attended a wedding here, or discovered the grounds during one of the Covid-19 lockdowns, we want this exhibition to encourage visitors to tell their friends and loved ones about any existing memories they have made here while making new ones together.

Photo: John Pettitt