COMMUNITY AT EASTBROOKEND

A welcoming community programme in the heart of Eastbrookend Country Park

We're building a regular community programme at Eastbrookend Country Park, and we'd love you to be part of it.

Rootino CIC is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company focused on bringing people together, creating opportunities and helping people feel connected to their local community. Our community programme will be based alongside Eastbrookend Country Park Tea Room, giving Rootino a welcoming base right in the heart of the park.

Eastbrookend really is a little slice of sanity on your doorstep. Surrounded by green space, lakes and nature, it gives us the perfect setting to build something special - a community where people can meet, talk, learn, volunteer, gain experience and simply feel welcome.

Our aim is to create a programme that is inclusive and open to all ages, abilities, faiths, religions, cultures and backgrounds.

Meet Alison

The lovely Alison, who already works at Eastbrookend Country Park Tea Room, will become our Community, Partnerships & Work Experience Lead.

Alison will help us grow the Rootino community programme, build relationships with local charities, groups and organisations, develop community activities and coach and support students through their work experience placements. She will also be a familiar, welcoming face for people attending our groups and events.

Walk & Talk

Our Thursday Walk & Talk, hosted by Alison, will return from mid-September as the weather becomes a little cooler. It is a relaxed opportunity to get outside, enjoy the park, meet other people and have a chat along the way. You can come alone or bring somebody with you. There is no pressure and no expectation - sometimes simply getting out of the house and having someone to talk to can make a real difference.

Regular Community Activities

• Quizzes
• Craft workshops
• Cream teas
• Chit-chat social sessions
• Walk & Talk groups
• Community talks
• Wellbeing sessions
• Charity fundraising events
• Seasonal activities
• Workshops
• Activities for families
• Activities for older residents
• Sessions for carers
• Activities delivered alongside local charities, faith groups and community organisations

Some sessions will be organised directly by Rootino, while others will be delivered in partnership with organisations already doing fantastic work within our local communities.

Are You Part of a Local Group?

We would love to hear from community groups, charities, support groups, carers' groups, faith groups, social clubs, wellbeing services, hobby and craft groups, walking groups, family groups, organisations supporting older people, SEND organisations and local voluntary organisations.

Rootino wants to work with existing organisations rather than duplicate the work they already do. Our Eastbrookend base gives groups the opportunity to bring people together in a relaxed community setting, with the added benefit of the beautiful Country Park right outside the door.

Work Experience With a Difference

Community activity at Eastbrookend will also form an important part of our supported work experience programme. We want work experience to feel meaningful. Students won't simply be given something to do to fill a few hours. Where possible, they will be involved in real activities that contribute to the community around them.

• Hospitality and customer service
• Helping with community activities
• Gardening and growing herbs and produce
• Preparing community spaces
• Supporting events
• Practical workplace tasks
• Developing communication and teamwork skills
• Building confidence and independence

Alison will help coach and support students during their placements. We particularly want to create supportive opportunities for SEND students and people who may need a different route into work experience, volunteering or employment.

Growing at Eastbrookend

Growing and gardening will become another part of the Rootino programme. Our SEND students and volunteers will have opportunities to learn about growing herbs, vegetables, fruit, flowers and seasonal produce. We want to connect nature, food, learning, community and practical skills.

We would particularly love to hear from green-fingered volunteers who could share their knowledge and help our students learn. You don't need to be a professional gardener - enthusiasm, patience and a willingness to help are far more important.

Help Us Shape Rootino

We don't want to sit in an office and decide what the community needs. We want you to tell us. What would you like to see happening at Eastbrookend?

• A regular coffee and chat
• A walking group
• A quiz
• A craft workshop
• A gardening club
• A carers' group
• A family activity
• An older people's social
• A wellbeing session
• A community talk
• A skills workshop
• A regular charity event

Some of the best community projects start with somebody simply saying: "Wouldn't it be good if..."

Everyone Is Welcome

Rootino is about bringing communities together. We want people who might not normally meet one another to share the same spaces, have conversations and discover that they have far more in common than they might have imagined.

Children. Young people. Families. Older people. People with SEND. Carers. Volunteers. People of different faiths. People from different cultures. People who have lived locally their whole lives and people who have only recently joined the community. Everyone has a place.

Eastbrookend is wheelchair accessible, with accessible parking bays available. Four-legged friends are welcome too - we simply ask that dogs are kept on a lead.

Our Community Roots

Rootino grew from the same founder and community spirit behind the award-winning The Baby Bank HQ community programme, which supported hundreds of local families. That experience showed us how powerful local communities can be when people, businesses, charities and volunteers work together. Rootino is the next chapter - reaching across generations and bringing even more people together.

More Than a Programme

Rootino isn't about creating activities just so that we can say an activity took place. It's about what happens because of them: someone comes for a coffee and meets a new friend; a young person completes their first work experience placement; someone who has been isolated starts leaving the house once a week; a student grows something for the first time; a retired gardener passes their knowledge on; or a local charity reaches somebody who didn't know support existed.

Different generations sit around the same table. That's community. And that's what we want Rootino at Eastbrookend to become. Come and Be Part of It

Join a group. Bring a community organisation. Volunteer. Refer a student. Share a skill. Run a workshop. Support our growing project. Partner with Rootino. Or simply come along and meet somebody new.