Together We Grow

19/07/2025

Together We Grow took 12 refugees and asylum seekers to the Lake District and stayed at the Glenthorne Quakers hotel. It is the third time we went there as we are always welcomed so warmly and treated as the other guests staying there.
We arrived there on a Friday, each got a nice room and got to know the buildings and the garden. Dinner was at 7pm and there was always a choice of vegetarian, fish or meat plus a handful of different choices of puddings.
One of the asylum seekers used to work in hospitality abroad and had a skill to arrange the napkins in many different forms.
On the Saturday we went in a minibus to Ambleside where we took a boat to Windermere. We visited a children's museum, had lunch and walked around the town before taking the boat back to Ambleside.
On the way back to Glenthorne we visited a woman who had her 100 year birthday and met some of her family.
Back in Glenthorne we were offered afternoon tea, coffee and cakes. Laura is a musician who plays the flute and she seems to be able to play everything by heart. So she played for us. Others showed us their domestic songs from abroad.
On Sunday there was a choice of a walk to the waterfall or a visit to a National Trust house and garden.

24/06/2025

Leila's Kitchen in Hebden Bridge had a meal offer during Refugee Week in support of Together We Grow. Many thanks for this.
The food was excellent as usual and we wish Leila's Kitchen all the best luck in the future.

11/06/2025

https://calderdale.cityofsanctuary.org/events/gather-give-fundraising-takeaway

Building a culture of hospitality for people seeking sanctuary

02/06/2025

Food was an important part of our event and there were 126 people to feed.

02/06/2025

Some more pictures from our event last week.

01/06/2025

More pictures from our 10-year celebration event.

01/06/2025

A very successful ten-year anniversary.

On 28th May Together We Grow celebrated our ten-year anniversary and said a farewell to everyone involved. It was held at Todmorden College, about 120 attended and it was a great success, at times very emotional.

On arrival there were various activities: a professional juggler, a face painter, arts and craft activities, various games and of course food and drinks. But just as important a chance to say hello and get updates from old and new friends.

Hand-painted mugs with the Together We Grow logo and a celebration booklet with all we have done over the last 10 years were given out to everyone.

About ten people made short speeches on what Together We Grow has meant to them since coming to the area seeking asylum and one played a beautiful Kurdish instrument

Food was prepared with the help of 3 Valley Vegan and many brought dishes from their home countries. It was all shared.

Thanks for all the gifts to Together We Grow and to Laura & Finn.

09/04/2025

We had a lovely day with some from our Rochdale group. It was a pity that we could not take 3 families as the group would have been took big.
We had a creative time at Todmorden College with the local artist Lizzie Lockhart. We painted flowers and when they had dried they were attached to a stick and placed in a decorated vase - see pictures.
Everything was taken home after the workshop. Thanks to Todmorden College for providing tea, coffee and biscuits for the session. We provided juices. And thanks to Lizzie, Beryl and Marian for the inspiration and support.
Then we went to the Kindness Cafe in Todmorden for a warm lunch followed by ice-cream. They opened especially for us. Afterwards all families went for a visit to the park, saw the market or walked along the canal. They could do what they wanted, as it was the first time some of them visited Todmorden.

20/02/2025

Although not everyone was able to come yesterday because of illness, etc we had a creative time at Todmorden College with the local artist Lizzie Lockhart. First we painted flowers and when they had dried they were attached to a stick and placed in a decorated vase - see pictures.
Afterwards we decorated wooden spoons and everything was taken home after the workshop. Thanks to Todmorden College for providing tea, coffee, biscuits and fruit for the session. We provided juices. And thanks to Lizzie and Marian for the inspiration and support.
Then we went to the Kindness Cafe in Todmorden for a warm lunch followed by ice-cream. They opened especially for us. Afterwards some families went to the library as the weather was not suitable for a visit to the park.