The Food Passion Blog

There’s a real buzz surrounding the Grovesend Miners Welfare Association hall since the recent announcement of plans to hold a Local Producers Market there every fourth Saturday in the month from 10am to 1pm.

27th October – Grand launch with Edwina Hart
24th November – Cookery demonstration (tbc)
22n December – Special “Nadolig” Market
26th January – “Your market, your say” / “Eich marchnad, eich barn”.

Civil Partners Al Heal and Rachel Auckland have taken the bold step of establishing “Gelli Ffrwythlon”, a high profile Sustainable Development Association in the small, rural village of Grovesend near Swansea.  The pair, who described themselves in a recent Radio Wales interview as “a couple of middle-aged ladies minding their own business” increased their involvement in community life partly in response to a series of homophobic incidents outside their home. 

Al, who is a Community Councillor and a Renewable Energy Consultant by trade, feeling saddened by the antisocial behaviour of a small group of youths, started a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme.  This in turn has led to PACT (Police and Communities Together) meetings for the village, to the relief of many residents who also felt threatened by the gang’s obnoxious behaviour.

Since helping to make the village safer for everyone, Rachel and Al have found they are more widely accepted than ever before.  Rachel, grandmother of three who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, has been invited to judge the Carnival Queen competition and to tell stories at the village school Autumn Fayre.  Together the couple have won support from every section of the community for their latest project, “Marchnad Cynhyrchwyr Lleol Pengelli / Grovesend Local Producers Market”.

The aim of the market is to bring to customers fresh, locally grown and home cooked foods and confections direct from the producers.  This is a welcome move with most of the 900 or so inhabitants of Grovesend who have no local shop in the village.  The market also hopes to attract customers from further afield, with it’s tempting range of vegetables, meat, fish, cheese, eggs, bread, cakes, preserves, and fresh and dried herbs and spices.  A warm welcome awaits all food-lovers, of whatever sexual orientation, at Marchnad Pengelli / Grovesend Market.  Croeso i bawb.  Dewch i lli!

Access details: Bus 400 / 404 stops outside the Miners’ Club Hall.  10am – 11.30am access is via steep steps with no handrail – assistance will be available.  11.30am – 1pm level access available, suitable for wheelchairs.  Please phone Rachel for more details on 01792 892769.
Ffoniwch Al i drafod yn Gymraeg 01792 892768.

Check this out too!

 Volkswagen Babes bare all for breast cancer - Rachel writes:
As a camp camper and ex-Beetle owner I was thrilled to read in Womenzone of plans to start a lesbian VeeDub club.  As a breast cancer survivor I was overjoyed to find the new Maggie Centre, next door to Swansea’s Singleton Hospital, providing high quality support to anyone affected by cancer, including myself and my lovely partner / carer Al.  Imagine then my delight when Maggie’s fundraiser Vicki Jones, who by the way also organises the annual Welsh VW rally (www.volksfestwales.org.uk), showed me the latest “Maggie’s lovely v-dublies 2008 Calendar”!  Featuring moving quotes from centre users and supporters, interspersed among pics of twelve tastefully posed babes, displaying everything from their headlamps to their hubcaps, this calendar is not to be missed.  On sale for £5 at Grovesend Market (see above) or from vicki@maggiescentres.org

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 at 6:46 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.