National Garden Scheme

How to create a Christmas centrepiece

For a unique festive decoration that showcases the very best of these winter blooms, National Garden Scheme volunteer and florist, Penny Snell, gives her step-by-step guide on how to create a Christmas centrepiece – perfect for a fireplace, shelf or bookcase.

How to make a home-grown Christmas wreath

Expert florist and National Garden Scheme volunteer, Penny Snell CBE, gives her step-by-step guide on how to make a home-grown and wonderfully wild Christmas wreath.

Winter activities for the family

Keep the family entertained this Christmas break with these winter activities for children. Provided by our friends at the Queen’s Nursing Institute, these scavenger hunts and craft activities are a great way to get into the festive spirit.

How to make bird seed cakes

Feed the birds in your garden this winter with these Christmas inspired birdseed cakes.

This simple ‘recipe’ is a great crafting activity for the Christmas holidays, and will have the whole family bird watching at the window once they’re served to the wildlife in the garden.

Feed the birds with nutty apple rings

Treat the wildlife in your garden this winter with these nutty apple rings. This quick winter craft is a great way to encourage children to get outdoors this December, and to learn about the wildlife living in the garden.

Visit the National Garden Scheme website here.

Message from Stephen Magrath

PAX

All that matters is to be at one with the living God, to be a creature in the house of the God of Life.

Like a cat asleep in a chair, at peace, in peace, and at one with the master of the house, with the mistress, at home, at home in the house of the living, sleeping on the hearth, and yawning before the fire.

Sleeping on the hearth of the living world, yawning at home before the fire of life, feeling the presence of the living God, like a great reassurance, a deep calm in the heart, a presence, as of the master sitting at the board, in his own and greater being, in the house of life.

by D. H. Lawrence

Hello everyone,

Perhaps like the poet's cat you have a fireplace to relax before, if not the photo might help or light a candle.

In the silent contemplation thereof one can experience 'a deep calm in the heart' and 'a presence'.

Enjoy image and text, share with others and/or join us Mondays 11-11.30am (remote & screen-free).

Pax.

If you would like to contact Stephen please do so at stephenmagrath@hotmail.com

Covid vaccine: First 'milestone' vaccine offers 90% protection

The first effective coronavirus vaccine can prevent more than 90% of people from getting Covid-19, a preliminary analysis shows.

The developers - Pfizer and BioNTech - described it as a "great day for science and humanity".

Their vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no safety concerns have been raised.

Read the full BBC article here.

Advent Hope & Light: Wednesday Mornings 10.30 – 11.30am

Wednesdays December 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd

A weekly discussion over Zoom. Each week our Chaplain Rev Jacky Wise will open a conversation that will help us to think about the joy, light and hope of Christmas.

Use these links to join the discussion: Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 992 2445 6918 Passcode: 784821

Jayne's Recipe for Homemade Body Scrub - an easy way to exfoliate your skin

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of coconut oil (can be slightly melted to mix)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• Optional extra - a few drops of essential oils (I used star anise)

Mix together and store in a jar until needed. A perfect and easily made body exfoliator. You can always make extra and give away as lovely homemade gifts.

Barnardo's Online Shop

Barnardo's online charity shop has a greatvalue range of charity cards, homeware, toys, gifts and so much more!

All profits from your purchase will help the UK's most vulnerable and disadvantaged children

Visit the shop here.

England's regional tiers to be set out today

The government will be announcing local lockdown tiers coming in to place from Thursday 3 December, after the national lockdown ends.

Most of England is expected to be put into Tier 2 of 3, with many restrictions still in place.

Visit the BBC to find out which tier you'll be in.

Watercolours with Sarah

From Tuesday 17 November, 2020 @ 2pm

Enjoy learning and developing different watercolour techniques in Sarah's step-by-step sessions. With your fellow painters, you will create a watercolour sketch and come away with ideas to develop further. Suitable for beginners through to the more creatively experienced.

Register in advance for this webinar here.

Cook-a-Long with Louise

From Wednesday 18 November, 2020 @ 2pm

Join cookery teacher, Louise Griffin, in this fun and sociable cook-a-long class. Recipes will be shared in advance, so you can prepare the ingredients and enjoy cooking with your classmates. Suitable for all.

Register in advance for this webinar here.

Mat Yoga with Liz Coleman

From Thursday 19 November, 2020 @ 2pm

A new class for students who are comfortable working from a mat base.

Gentle yoga, breathing and deep relaxation.

Register in advance for this webinar here.

Radio Bath Interview

Interviewees wanted for resilience project – Bath Radio and St Johns Foundation

Bath Radio would like to interview a small number of St John’s residents and activity attendees for our programmes on the impact of COVID on wellbeing and resilience. We are looking to compare and contrast the experiences of both young and older people. Working with both Prior Park College and St Johns Foundation.

We will record telephone interviews – conversations lasting about 30-40 minutes. There is no preparation required. Anonymity is assured – we will not use your surname. We would be happy to send you a copy of the resulting programme.

Bath Radio was invited to collaborate with University of Bath and proposed to explore, for a series of radio programmes, the impact of the COVID19 pandemic on wellbeing and resilience in young people and older people, examining similarities and differences in experiences and responses. This is part of ‘FUTURES on Air’ project, a collaboration between several Universities in the South West of England. The project will result in a number of radio programmes which will be aired on multiple radio stations developed as part of the project will be aired on multiple stations on November 27th & 28th.

For more information or to be involved, contact activities@stjohnsbath.org.uk

The Help Hub

The Help Hub are a "group of qualified therapists who are here to listen and support individuals who find themselves with limited contact due to the Covid-19 Coronavirus."

Available to anyone in the UK, the HelpHub is helping those suffering from anxiety, loneliness and isolation. Some are fearful, worried about their health or their loved ones.

The HelpHub enables people to speak to someone who knows how to listen to their fears. Through the website, people book a twenty-minute appointment to speak to one of over 800 therapists, all of whom are volunteering their time and expertise to ensure the HelpHub can provide a free service.

Find out more information here.

Mindful.org - Getting Started with Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

While mindfulness is something we all naturally possess, it’s more readily available to us when we practice on a daily basis.

Whenever you bring awareness to what you’re directly experiencing via your senses, or to your state of mind via your thoughts and emotions, you’re being mindful. And there’s growing research showing that when you train your brain to be mindful, you’re actually remodeling the physical structure of your brain.

The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes.

Find out more here.

B&NES 3SG

BaNES 3SG - Here, you can find a list of places across Bath and surrounding areas who are delivering groceries, food, takeaways and even medicines. Check out the full list with contact details for each place offering services.

Online Deliveries

Milk & More – basics including milk, cheeses, breads and more, all delivered to your door.

Hello Fresh – fresh food items delivered to your door.

Morrison's Doorstep Delivery - The Morrisons Doorstep delivery service is available to vulnerable and elderly members of the community, unable to go shopping in-store. Call 0345 611 6111 and select option 5 to place your order.

You Want 2 Cook

Our fantastic cooking teacher, Louise is offering a variety of recipes for you to do at home via her Facebook pages: Youwant2cook and What2eattoday

Meals on Wheels

If you're struggling to get the meals you need AgeUK, B&NES Council and Bath City Farm are all offering home deliveries for those in need. For more information from these providers follow the links below.

BaNES Council meals-on-wheels service, information can be found here.

AGEUK offer a range of meals delivered to your door, to view the meals available click here. To place an order with AgeUK please contact: communitymeals@ageukwiltshire.org.uk or phone 01793 687017 (Age UK Wiltshire covers the B&NES Meals on Wheels area) or use the online booking form.

To contact Bath City Farm - please email them at mealsonwheels@bathcityfarm.org.uk

Wiltshire Farm Foods – visit their website or phone 0800 077 3100. Ready-made meals which can be microwaved or oven cooked at home.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has meant only leaving your home if it's essential, but it's still easy to get NHS help using your smartphone, tablet or computer.

This page contains information to help you:

• contact your GP
• order repeat prescriptions
• manage long-term conditions
• maintain your mental and physical wellbeing

If you need an NHS service, try to do it online first. If you cannot access what you need this way or do not have internet access, try asking a friend or family member to help you, or speak to your GP surgery on the phone.

Visit the Health at Home website by using this link: https://www.nhs.uk/health-at-home/

How can we stay in virtual touch with our relatives?

As the government encourages "social distancing" in the fight against coronavirus, older adults are facing the prospect of being told to stay at home and isolate.

But what if a parent or older person in your life, doesn't already have access to video calling tech?

Integrated kit can be the easiest solution - and could be hundreds of pounds cheaper than buying a laptop, tablet, or a mid-range smartphone.

Amazon, Google, and Facebook all have smart devices with screens for video calls.

One problem with all these devices is their expense and another is their need to be on a stable, decent wi-fi connection at all times. Sometimes, a smartphone might be the better option.

Read the full BBC article here.

Poetry in the pandemic - project aims to engage young people in creative writing

Man, 73, finishes 1,000-mile lockdown run - he completed his personal challenge of running 1,000 miles during the coronavirus lockdown.

Re-wilding Britain: the plan to restore an area the size of Manchester - a new nature network plans to re-wild 300,000 acres of land in the UK, in a bid to boost biodiversity and tackle climate change

Nurse hugs two-year-old son after 11 weeks apart - a self-isolating nurse has finally hugged her two-year-old son after 11 "heartbreaking" lockdown weeks apart.

Hundreds of socially-distanced hearts appear in Bristol parks - the 374 large white hearts are being applied to Queen’s Square, Castle Park and College Green in Bristol

Suffolk villagers club together to buy dog a wheelchair - a dog is a "happy chappy" again after villagers clubbed together to buy him a wheelchair so he can enjoy walks after losing the use of his back legs.

Free bike repair vouchers - there are an estimated 16.5m cycles gathering dust in England’s sheds and hallways, according to the charity Cycling UK. But that number could be about to fall with the introduction of the government’s ‘fix your bike’ scheme, which is giving away 50,000 bike repair vouchers worth £50 to people living in England.

Blue tit rescued from Ipswich garden may become 'a friend for life'- a blue tit found abandoned in a back garden seems to have adopted his human rescuer as his mother.

Medal for lockdown litter picking boy in Sleaford - a seven-year-old boy from Sleaford has been given an award for his tireless efforts to keep his local park tidy.

Rainbow of knitted flowers to mark the 72nd Birthday of the NHS - A rainbow made from more than 1,300 knitted or crocheted flowers has been put on display in tribute to the 72nd Birthday of the NHS.