Post written by: Erin Walcon
So, lockdown is hard.
But I think it is particularly hard if you’re a teenager. And it’s June. And the sun is shining. And your GCSEs have been cancelled. And none of the adults seem to know what the rules are anymore. And all your structures have just disappeared, overnight. And some of your friends are being sensible, but a lot of them aren’t. And you are missing your mates. And there’s no end in sight.
That’s a hard place to be.
For the 18 young people in Doorstep Youth Theatre, who have been meeting weekly (and more!) with a team of Teaching Artists over Zoom since lockdown began, we’ve been really honest about how we all are. Some days are good. Some days are not.
When government guidance was issued saying that people could now go on a 1:1 socially distanced walk, we seized the chance.
Cabbage seedlings were growing rapidly and they needed delivering!
We’ve been growing these seeds since March. It was one of that last acts that we did before lockdown – each of us taking a small set of seedlings home to nurture and grow. Trouble is, they’re getting big and ready for planting, and we needed help!
So Jade, in classic community-builder fashion, put the word out to the people of Torbay. We asked if anyone wanted to Adopt a Cabbage.
And people replied! Quite a few! They did! They wanted to grow cabbages! So we started figuring out how we could plan for walking routes for deliveries… and members of DYT, in pairs, socially distanced, undertook those deliveries. Jade wrote a robust set of risk assessments and super clear ‘How to do a Cabbage Walk’ guidance notes and then MADE SURE that everyone read it. Hahaha, that took a few tries, but she was meticulous and persistent and nagging does pay off. They did read it in the end.
Jade talked about it on the radio. More people volunteered.
We printed these postcards, and we delivered each set of cabbage seedlings to the doors of our volunteer growers’ houses, along with a handwritten note.
Around 50 seedlings were delivered in the first wave and we’re growing another round for another set of Adopters to take on. So get in touch if you’re interested!
One last note – this has not been without its growing curve! There have been a couple of surprises along the way.