Stories in The Listening Space
The Listening Space is a garden for small groups connected to the GP surgery to use and where we hold community events.
It’s a space for the Caversham staff to have a break and some peace in their busy schedules.
We have a pot that is bubbling with ideas for the future so if you are a patient or staff of the Caversham Practice we would welcome you if you’d like to participate in some way. Have a look on the Working Together page for the help we need now.
Below are the small groups and the projects that have grown from The Listening Space.
The Practice Gallery
Many of the wonderful pieces of art displayed around the Caversham Group Practice building were created by artist Anita Ford and kindly donated to us by her husband, Alfred.
Anita Ford was born in 1948 in London but her family originated from the Rhondda Valley. She studied at Loughborough College of Art in 1966-1969 where she received a Dip AD 1ST class hons in fine art-sculpture. This was followed by an Italian State Scholarship at the Academia di Belle Arti, in Venice. In her lifetime she had many exhibitions both in London’s west end and abroad and travelled, notably in the States, India and Japan. Anita won several awards, taught and gave lectures including at the Camden Institute in Holmes Road. She lived and worked in Kentish Town.
Thank you for your work Anita.
(Anita Ford 1948-2018)
Crafternoons
“I think that making things as an alternative to consumerism, making things as a form of counterculture protest, is valid.”
– Betsy Greer, Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism
You can see some of the work that’s been made in the Crafternoons group here.
Gardening Group
“The earth is what we all have in common”
– Wendell Berry
Our gardening group generally meets once a week as well as arranging occasional community days.
You can see garden images and the work of the gardening group here.
Walking Groups
“Above all do not lose your desire to walk. Every day I walk myself into a state of wellbeing and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.”
- Soren Kierkegaard
We run walking groups from the practice, but due to current capacity and our numbers are limited.
If you would like to volunteer to become a walk leader or go on one of Camden’s other walks you can contact: www.walkingforhealth.org.uk
to find out more.
We aspire to have a walking group from the practice every day, but we need your help.
Helping Hands
Our waiting room project - working together and responding to the challenges arising from the rising cost of living.
Join us in the Caversham Waiting Room.
Wednesdays 10.30am-12.30pm
Midnight Kitchen
We believe in the power of coming together around a table. The Midnight Kitchen is the space where we cook up ideas. It is the spirit of hospitality, a place of generous listening. It has existed as a pop-up kitchen and maybe one day we will have the social kitchen and workshop space that is in our imagination. We believe that caring about where our food comes from, cooking and eating together can make big differences to our health, our relationships and to our world.
We were delighted to partner with Circle of Soup aka Jane Edwards and Sarah Walter for a pilot of their brilliant intuitive cooking workshops.
Singing for Health
“Music can heal the wounds that medicine cannot touch”
-Debasish Midrah
We have been trying out the benefits of singing for breathing and health after an offer to run a group came from the wonderful Mary Hammond who is a professional vocal coach and teacher. Mary was joined by our own fabulous Clair Chapwell who has a long experience of working with theatre groups and community choirs. Together they led a group to build confidence and skills in using voice and breath. The practice staff were treated to a performance including the first outing of their solidarity song for the NHS :)
Poetry Pharmacy
“Poetry has taught me that it can choose the most unexpected places to pause. So, sometimes, rather than going for the high moment of drama, the high moment of the erotic, the high moment of the extraordinary, poetry will choose the small moment of pause just to look at what’s really happening, to look at a few layers deep and to let that small pause, that ordinary moment, open up with all the fullness of its being, to us.”
-Padraig O’Tuama
Therapeutic Art Group
“Art builds up self-knowledge, and is an excellent way of communicating the resulting fruit to other people.”
-Alain de Botton, Art as Therapy
We are grateful to local artist, Polly Farquharson for offering to facilitate a therapeutic art group which was held at Kentish Town City Farm. Watch our notice board or here for future sessions
Story Walks
Working with Global Generation we explored the idea of walking through the green spaces of Camden to reconnect us to the land under our feet (and often in the city, under the concrete). We found that we feel better in ourselves and with each other. We peppered the walk with stories, shared poems, qi gong, sitting still and creative activities. During the lockdown we moved our gatherings online but encouraged walking and activities in between which we shared when we came back together.
Events
We are now running our Helping Hands sessions in the waiting room at the Caversham Group Practice; finding ways to support each other through mutual support, skill sharing, problem solving and working together.
For our forthcoming event the River of Hope Party see here
And for our memories of how we have celebrated as a community before, enter here to see the photographs.
Something else…
If you have an idea or would like to run a group then let us know by going to the contact us page and sending us a message.
As the website, project and garden are all run by volunteers we are unable to reply to every message in person. We are grateful for all your suggestions though and will read them.