Category: General News

Hello Pansy Patchers! It has definitely been a long dark winter! Thank you for keeping in touch on our social media platforms. We know many of you are raring to get back to the PiNC centre and we can’t wait to welcome you back to the garden!

We understand how difficult the past few months have been for many, with the lack of light and the cold weather, along with being isolated from our loved ones. We are putting plans in place now so the centre and the garden can get back up and running as soon as we are allowed by our government.

I know from personal experience, having suffered with anxiety and being a seasonal sufferer of SAD, how challenging winter can be and how healing and relaxing it is to work outdoors. Gardening has saved my mental bacon on many an occasion!

We want to assure you that we will be open again as soon as we can. In the meantime, if you have a small area outdoors at home, please try to make the most of it now things are getting a bit more spring like. If you have a park, get out for a walk, or if you are lucky enough to live by water, you could even try a wild swim (make sure to swim safely and with other people!).

If you would like to get your hands dirty, please get in touch and we can supply you with seeds, soil and pots to start growing things from home. You can nurture your own green babies and either plant them out in your garden or pots at home, or bring them to the PP once we open and help us plant our MANY new planters! If you can’t come to the Patch, we can help bring an MPP (Mini Pansy Patch) to you!

Feel free to get in touch at stevie@carlislelgbtq@gmail.com if you would like to start growing, or if you need help and support over the lockdown.

Be kind, stay positive and keep growing! xxx

Hello Pansypatchers!

Thanks to or brilliant friends and volunteers for all the help today bringing more fabulous colour to the patch!

We are happy to say the plants are all thriving and are growing into a jungle since we planted them just a few months ago.

We painted the wall a wonderful blue, added a CD cloud and started building our wonky rainbow.

Queen Johnny god a few more jewels on her crown and Ophelia Bush was given a gorgeous new headband!

We painted away until the sun went in then came in to have cream cakes and plan more PRIDE events!…watch this space!

Come along next Thursday and say hello! Its a friendly bunch of all ages at the moment, come and paint, plant so just drink tea!

The drag queen planters are coming along nicely, wefitted a water butt so we can collect rain water to makexsure the plants get a good drink, we did some planning for some exciting new stuff and we started on the wonky rainbow. Some pics enjoy

Today the weather was a bit miserable but we didn’t let that dampen our spirits .up went the gazebo so our volunteers could start their designs on the drag queen heads Which are looking fabulous we now have miss Lavender curly box no name for our other drag queen so open to suggestions Pop down and tell us what you think . We were also given a rather large conifer tree which looks good on our patch . Be good to see you next week lots of tea and cake what’s not to like .

Come and hang out online , chat to people in a safe environment and find out what’s happening round and about If you would like an invite to the server please email faye_PiNC@outlook.com with your name, d.o.b and discord user name and we can send you the link

https://lgbtcumbrialanguageandarchives.wordpress.com/

Follow the link and see what we have found out, a bit of LGBT history. This project has been funded by the Herritage lottery

Today we had a general tidy up weeding pathways and bedding boxes . All drag queen planters are now up and ready to be designed so if your feeling creative pop down and get creative next week be good to see you . Also planted the last planter with various plants and bulbs . A wicker flamingo has being filled with compost ready to be planted with bulbs it’s gonna be fabulous . Princess Johnny is our first drag queen head that’s being designed and is now watching over the pansy patch

Today we started to paint our FABULOUS drag-queen wall planters! These ladies will end up adorning the walls of the Pansy Patch, and will have beautiful botanical hairdos!

This is the queen of the patch, in progress…she just needs a lot more glitter, her make up finished and her jewellery on! Come along and help us next week!

We have three more to paint and plant and would love your ideas on designs and names, message our facebook page with your inspirations!

Its week 2 of the Pansy Patch Project! We had some great volunteers joined us to plant up a huge planter for the back of the centre!

Lavender, Daisies and Pelargoniums we planted up and decorated with fabulous flamingos & sparrows!

We also gave the back walls of the centre and quick lick of paint to spruce up the space.

Triple chocolate cookies and cups of tea kept us going all afternoon!

We started the new gardening project here at the LGBT+ centre a few weeks ago. Thank you to the volunteers who came along to help us fill all the wonderful planters at the front of the centre.

We spent the afternoon flexing our muscles and filling our planters with soil kindly donated by West Coast Group, www.west-coast-group.co.uk.

Volunteers also planted lots of shade loving plants to brighten up Victoria Place, including Hostas, Anemone, Astilbe, Geum, Geranium and Acers, as well as Honeysuckle and Jasmine for some lovely fragrance!

We also enjoyed the sunshine and plenty of tea, squash, cake and chat!