On Saturday September 23, we held the first Sustainable Shakespeare Community Fun Day in the garden of Hall’s Croft to celebrate the start of Great Big Green Week across Stratford-upon-Avon. We had been working with the organisers of Great Big Green Week for many months and wanted to put on an event that would act as a launch for the wonderful seven days’ worth of events they had planned.
Around the garden of Hall’s Croft were a range of different stalls for families to visit, many of which had activities for them to take part in. Some were facilitated by teams within the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, such as education, HR and gardening, while others were run by a range of environmental and sustainability groups from around Stratford. Over the course of the day, over 500 people came into the garden and took part in the activities. While some people came simply to look at the garden, there were lots of individuals and families who took part in a range of events. Some came in tentatively, not really sure what they would find. We gave them a paw print trail sheet, which led to clues hidden on different stands, and let them roam around the stalls. Many emerged an hour or so later with their faces painted, autumn crowns on their head, carrying miniature gardens and bird feeders!
As well as the activities run by SBT, two local artists, Michelle Flint and Mandy Benton, invited our visitors to contribute to two pieces of art based on lines from A Midsummer Nights’ Dream. Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, Hedgehog Friendly Town and Stratford Friends of the Earth were also there to talk to our visitors and raise awareness of their work.
It was a real group effort to get this event off the ground, so a big thank you to everyone who helped make it possible and a success. If you missed out you can still help to encourage biodiversity with our instructions on how to make a pine cone bird feeder.
To find out more about our work to become net zero in our carbon emissions by 2030 visit our Sustainable Shakespeare page.