March saw spring arrive at Kirkby Lonsdale in full swing, as the shops redressed their windows in vibrant colours and the beautiful extravaganza of flowers bloomed in St Mary’s churchyard as well as Jubilee field, as showcased in the Virtual Spring Window Walk on Facebook. We have also seen a further loosening of Lockdown restrictions, allowing everyone to take a deep breath of fresh air and start looking towards reopening and, in the spirit of Easter, reawakening.
However, that is not to say we have forgotten how hard the community has been working over the last few months – Kirkby Lonsdale CIC has installed a joyful and colourful ‘Thank You’ banner across the top of main street to show our appreciation for all the frontline workers and volunteers in and around town. Please join us in honouring the massive community effort of getting through lockdown together which you can read more about in our March Blog ‘How Kirkby Lonsdale’s Unsung Heroes Shine Behind the Scenes’.
Easter Weekend
As Easter takes on a new meaning this year, Kirkby Lonsdale CIC has organised a full calendar to help the community rise out of lockdown and enjoy summer to its fullest. Beginning with an Easter Jigsaw Hunt this weekend to provide some light relief before moving onto a new health and wellbeing programme called Phoenix Rising, read onto to discover more…
Easter Jigsaw Hunt
This Easter weekend there is an array of activities to get involved with around town, starting with our Easter Jigsaw Hunt. The volunteers at the Information & Gift Shop have banded together once again to make and hide hundreds of jigsaw pieces around town for locals to seek out. Make head or tail of a set of clues and find all six pieces of the Easter jigsaw puzzle to win a special Easter prize. You’ll find some pieces hopping from shop to shop and don’t forget to chick out the most springlike places around town before the Devil steals all your eggs! Find out how to enter the hunt and win your Easter prize here…
St Mary’s Churchyard
You can also explore celebrate Easter and the end of lockdown at St Mary’s Church. Discover the story of Easter and follow the Easter Trail around the churchyard before enjoying a picnic amongst the beautiful spring flowers during Holy Week this Easter. You will also find materials in the church porch to decorate the Easter Tree by Sunday 4th April, a beautiful way to share your hopes and dreams with the community.
Easter Bunny Hunt in Burrow
The Highwayman is putting on an Easter Bunny Hunt in Burrow with lots of chocolatey prizes for families of all ages! A number of mischievous Easter Bunnies have escaped around the village and need your help to find them!
Follow the bunnies as they will guide you around our Easter Trail (we also have a handy map for you too) and count how many bunnies you can find so Farmer Jim knows how many he needs to catch! Join the Easter Bunny Hunt and win lots of chocolatey prizes!.
Phoenix Rising Community Workshops
This spring, as the town begins to reawaken, Kirkby Lonsdale CIC in collaboration with Green Close is launching a number of free arts-based activities. Green Close is a not-for-profit arts organisation based in the village of Melling. Phoenix Rising welcomes Kirkby Lonsdale & Lune Valley residents who have had a tough year and would benefit from having some ‘me’ time to relax and enjoy a few hours in a safe and supportive atmosphere. These activities will give anyone and everyone the chance to learn something new, be active & social and get creative – things which we’ve all missed in one way or another and hopefully will make us feel normal again.
Here is a look at each artist and their workshops:
The Gratitude Gallery with Ginny Koppenhol
A phone photography gratitude practice, designed as an engaging and supportive group activity during these challenging times. The Gratitude Gallery will consist of 4 weekly online workshops bringing together a group of 10 people to learn phone photography skills and use them to create daily photos with gratitude at their heart. During the workshops you will be given tips, techniques and given some practical activities, so you can create eye-catching smartphone photographs. At the end of the course, a gallery of the group’s photos, will be created as a way of celebrating these small moments of appreciation.
If you would like to take part in Ginny Koppenhol’s Gratitude Gallery workshops sign up to the Phoenix Rising newsletter.
Myths and Legends with Kremena Dimitrova
The second online course is called Myths and Legends, a two-week course which starts on Sunday 2nd and 9th May designed for all the family and provides a gentle ease back into everyday life. The programme will run for two hours each week, led by artist illustrator Kremena Dimitrova, bringing Kirkby Lonsdale’s vivid and fascinating history to life through visual processes leading to a collaborative map. This is an exciting opportunity to learn something different and ignite your creative mind, whether for the first time in a while or for the first time ever.
If you would like to take part in Kremena Dimitrova’s Myths and Legends workshops sign up to the Phoenix Rising newsletter.
Tree of Life with Sue Flowers
The tree of life is a symbol of personal growth, strength and individual beauty, and in Mexico a form of traditional ceramic art. These workshops will introduce you to sharing your story through working with clay. Inspired by the brightly painted folk art of Mexico you will to create your very own tree of life in the form of a candlestick to display and take home. All materials provided. Please bring an apron or old shirt to wear over your clothes or be prepared to get a little mucky!
If you would like to take part in Sue Flowers’ Tree of Life sign up to the Phoenix Rising newsletter.
Kirkby Towntastic with Danielle Chappell Aspinwall
The Kirkby TownTastic celebratory project will deliver an action packed, fun and welcoming series of workshops to celebrate the wellbeing and resilience of local people by creating a community and family bunting. By sharing stories and creating doodles & drawings participants will be taken through a design process where they can make templates to trace, paint or stitch their ideas to create a joyful collective bunting that can be displayed around the town and beyond.
If you would like to take part in Danielle Chappell Aspinwall – Kirkby Towntastic workshops sign up to the Phoenix Rising newsletter.
Final Word
We hope you will take advantage of this wonderful spring calendar put in place to help the community embrace everything new and changing this year. While the Easter activities will provide some light relief from being cooped up inside while the Phoenix Rising programme offers an ongoing opportunity to recharge your batteries and get used to our new lives ahead. If you would like to find out more, please sign up to our mailing list or contact the Information & Gift Shop.
Keep up to date with everything happening by signing up to the Kirkby Lonsdale & Lune Valley Newsletter!
