Taking time to talk

A couple of very interesting conversations today – not scheduled, just evolved as part of my normal job – but it showed how taking time to talk can bear some interesting fruit….

• As I was setting out the room for one of my Strong and Steady classes this morning I started talking with the caretaker. He goes to the Men in Sheds at the bottom of Carlton Hill at St Paul’s church. We chatted about this and that and I talked about the meeting Fiona, Suzy and I had had with Notts Wildlife Trust. Apparently the Men in Sheds have made bird boxes and bug hotels in the past and could potentially get involved again. They also have a small allotment, growing tomatoes, onions, rhubarb etc. And they have tools which are donated to them by local residents. Could we draw them into the pop up green space conversation? I’m going to try to pop in this Thursday to introduce myself to the leader and see where we go from there.

• The second conversation was with a lady after the class. I was telling her about my visit to St Paul’s on Sunday and she told me that she went to Sacred Heart. We chatted about the congregation (600 on Easter Sunday!). A variety of ages – drawn from the three Catholic churches in the area which all now come under one priest and therefore instead of there being a mass at each church each week there’s now only one a week at 10.15 for all three churches. Sadly the priest has just gone on a three month sabbatical – April to July. They do a Warm Space at the hall on Thursdays 12-3 and they have a St Vincent de Paul group who go out to visit the sick and housebound. My client helps out with this as well as a lady (superconnector?) who also helps out at the Age Concern day centre, the Carlton Hill Community Hub Food Bank and St Paul’s church. She also said there was a strong Italian community (apparently this evolved from the Italian Prisoner of War camp at Colwick Woods in the second world war who then stayed on). This community is very supportive at the church – particularly with refreshments. I’ll try to visit the church one Sunday to introduce myself and see who’s who and what’s what.