Article written by Tabitha Dunthorne, Project Officer, Groundwork East (15 November 2023)
The families that we raise, the hobbies that we take up, and the skills that we develop: all of these can be part of the story of how we save the planet together.
Psychologists named ‘eco-anxiety’ as a symptom of living on an increasingly unstable planet. Eco-anxiety can manifest as an urge to turn away from the world, to conserve what we already have. This urge, however, perpetuates a cycle: the less in control we feel, the less action we take, and the less in control we feel.
There doesn’t seem to be a term yet to describe the sense of meaningful calm that accompanies caring for the planet, although this powerfully counters eco-anxiety. By choosing to turn outwards we can answer the question of how to pick up new skills during a climate crisis – nurturing the communities that support us and cultivating the green spaces that nourish us in our local area.
Groundwork East offers free courses to help answer that question in Peterborough. We’re a community and environment charity you might recognise from our family growing course at CoFarm over summer, or the sensory garden we built with locals in Yaxley.
Look out for our January activities!
For families:
Shop it, Cook it: Baby’s First Foods is a 6-week course for families to come together to cook healthy meals on a budget for everyone to enjoy – even the fussiest little ones.
We also offer families Wildplay and Wellies in the Woods, sharing the magic of outdoor play with children and carers. Our courses inspire young people to connect with the natural world that they’ll look after one day.
And for adults:
Grow it Cook it Share it is a cooking and gardening course, where together we grow the food that we then cook and eat.
And finally, Get Outdoors Get Active is exactly what it sounds like – a chance to enjoy being outside and enjoy being a body at the same time.