ST WERBURGH'S MEDICINE GARDEN |
We have established a community herb garden on an allotment plot in St Werburghs. The project, which began with hard work and a lot digging by a very small group of people, has grown over the years to be a collectively run collaborative project. We have used the garden to share skills on growing and propagating medicinal herbs, as well as information on harvesting, making medicines and how to use the herbs in self-care. Our aim is to provide a resource for the community so that everyone is able to experience working with herbs and deepen their connection to the wider landscape.
Visit the Medicine Garden Facebook Page |
RADICAL HERBALISM GATHERING |
Becs Griffiths first came up with the idea to hold a gathering about Radical Herbalism after being inspired by similar gatherings in the United States. The gathering would include speakers and workshops directly placing herbal medicine within a social and political context, rather than being simply about individual development as is so often the case.
Annwen and Becs have now been part of a collective putting on an amazing event each summer for the last four years, and the fifth Radical Herbalism UK gathering is coming in June 2017. ‘Rad‘ in latin means root. Radical herbalism is about getting to the root of health, addressing all dimensions – the physical, emotional, social, political, spiritual, environmental. We believe that everyone should have the basic knowledge and skills to look after themselves naturally. Herbal medicine, one of the oldest medicines in the world, should play an important part in our healthcare system and not be relegated to private medicine. See the Radical Herbalism Gathering website for details of the workshops that happen each year. |
HERBALISTS WITHOUT BORDERS |
Becs and Annwen founded the group 'Herbalists without Borders Bristol' in 2016 with the intention of it being a collaboration between herb growers, medicine makers and clinical herbalists to provide free ethical herbal medicine treatment for migrants and asylum seekers within the city.
We aim to do that with a mixture of distributing free basic Bristol-made medicines (e.g. cough medicines, chest balms and sleep teas), and one-to-one clinical appointments with qualified herbalists for deeper care. The idea is to create a holistic approach to healthcare so that volunteers and migrants could be involved in several stages of the project, from growing, harvesting and learning how to use the herbs. This vision acknowledges that being part of a herbal growing project, making a connection to the local natural environment, and learning the tools of self-care are an important part in improving health and wellbeing. Setting up this project is a deeply rooted act of resistance against an unjust global political system that has created such unjust borders, as well as this government’s introduction of the new immigration bill which further isolates migrants. We believe that herbal medicine is an important part of any healthcare system and can have profound positive effects. We are linked up with a wider UK-based Herbalists without Borders group set up to support refugees in camps throughout Europe as well as in our own cities. |
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