Whats On
Summer and into late summer
Free funded sessions | Donations welcome on our seasonal special events -Booking essential
Booking link in each section or email dawn@reconnection2wellness.org with the session title(s) you’d like to attend and for more information.
Coming back to rhythm
Wellbeing Wednesdays
Spring Bank Manor Darwen
7-9pm
A gentle Zen & Mindfulness course .Expect to see drops in stress levels, improved mood and an increased sense of wellbeing.
Before life became so fast and disconnected , people lived more in rhythm with daylight, weather, growing seasons, local food and community. Each week is a different theme but the same learning tools for increased wellbeing and emotional health.
For more information on this see Reconnection to Wellness CIC website www.reconnection2wellness.org
FULL
Growing together
Growing Thursdays
12 March onwards | 10.30am–12.30pm
Location: Turncroft Allotment / Bud-dees Growing Darwen
Practical, hands-on growing sessions focused on making the most of small spaces (no allotment or big garden needed). We’ll grow skills and confidence together, and we’ll encourage you to learn alongside neighbours and others in the growing community, because this is how we used to live: growing what we can, and supporting each other.
No booking needed just come long to be welcomed. Join the whats app group for sharing your wisdom and learnings from your own growing space at home.
About Thriving with the Seasons
About Thriving with the Seasons
Late Summer Forage Walk
Sunday 6 September 2026, 1pm to 3pm
Sunnyhurst Woods, Darwen, meet at the Olde England kiosk
Join us for a gentle Late Summer Forage Walk through Sunnyhurst Woods with Pete Compo from Pendle Plant Craft.
This walk is part of our Heritage funded project, Thriving with the Seasons, where we are remembering the old ways, the seasonal knowledge, the plants, the food, the remedies, the stories and the skills that would once have been passed down through families and communities.
Late summer is a beautiful time to notice the shift in the season. The flowers, berries, seeds, leaves and woodland plants are all part of that rhythm, and Pete will help us understand what is growing, what has been traditionally used, and how to forage safely and respectfully.
You can walk through a park or woodland and think there is not much there, then someone like Pete starts pointing things out and suddenly you realise you have probably walked past food, medicine and old plant wisdom hundreds of times without even knowing.
Most of us were never taught this stuff. We can name brands, apps, supermarkets and Netflix series, but half of us don’t know what is growing at the end of the street.
No previous foraging knowledge is needed. This is a relaxed, friendly walk suitable for all ages. Just come along, get curious and enjoy being outside with others.
Event details
Date: Sunday 6 September 2026
Time: 1pm to 3pm
Location: Sunnyhurst Woods, Darwen
Meeting point: The kiosk
Led by: Pete Compo, Pendle Plant Craft
Suitable for: All ages
Please wear suitable shoes and clothing for woodland paths and the weather on the day.
This event is part of Thriving with the Seasons, made possible with support from the Heritage Fund.
About Thriving with the Seasons
Harvest Festival
Harvest Festival
Come and celebrate the abundance of the harvest season with us at our Thriving with the Seasons Harvest Festival.
This relaxed community event is a chance to slow down, come together and reconnect with the food, skills and seasonal wisdom that have supported communities for generations.
The afternoon will be led by Jackie Robinson, holistic wellbeing coach, retreat leader, founder of The Balance Approach and Co-Founder of Root Connections Networking.
Jackie is passionate about seasonal cooking, foraging and helping people reconnect with nature through food. During the event, she will demonstrate how to create delicious and nutritious dishes using seasonal vegetables and foraged ingredients.
You will be able to enjoy:
- A seasonal cooking demonstration
- Food tasting
- Local and home-grown produce
- Foraged ingredients and traditional food knowledge
- Conversation, connection and a celebration of the harvest season
You do not need any previous cooking, growing or foraging experience. Just come along with an interest in seasonal food, nature and community.
Harvest traditions are part of our living heritage. They remind us of a time when communities worked more closely with the land, gathered food according to the seasons and passed practical knowledge through families and neighbours. Thriving with the Seasons is helping to keep that knowledge alive through shared experiences, stories and hands-on learning.
About Jackie
Jackie Robinson is a holistic wellbeing coach, retreat leader and founder of The Balance Approach, as well as Co-Founder of Root Connections Networking.
She leads wellbeing retreats, festivals, community events and online detox programmes, inspiring people to embrace simple, sustainable ways of living that support better health and wellbeing.
Date and time
Saturday 26 September 2026
2.00pm to 4.00pm
Venue
Springvale Church
Watery Lane
Darwen
Tickets and donations
This is a voluntary donation event.
Booking is essential because places are limited. Please only reserve a place if you intend to attend, and cancel your ticket if your plans change so that somebody else can come.
About Thriving with the Seasons
Thriving with the Seasons is a year-long community heritage and wellbeing project exploring seasonal living, food growing, foraging, traditional skills, nature connection and community stories.
The project is delivered by Reconnection to Wellness CIC and made possible with support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
About Thriving with the Seasons
Autumns Mindfulness
Feeling stressed, anxious, overwhelmed or emotionally drained?
Join us in Darwen for a fully funded eight-week Stress Reduction Course, offering a supportive space to slow down, reconnect with yourself and learn practical tools for managing life’s challenges.
Drawing on modern research, neuroplasticity and practices from the Zen tradition, we will explore:
• Practical mindfulness and meditation techniques
• Ways to calm and regulate the nervous system
• Understanding your individual stress patterns
• Working with difficult thoughts and emotions
• Building greater self-awareness and emotional resilience
• Simple practices to support your everyday wellbeing
No previous experience of mindfulness or meditation is needed. The course is friendly, accessible and suitable for complete beginners.
Come to the taster:
Wednesday 30 September 2026
7.15 pm
Springbank Manor Hotel, Darwen
Come along, meet me and experience some of the practices before deciding whether the full course is right for you.
EIGHT-WEEK COURSE
Every Wednesday from 14 October to 2 December 2026
7.15 pm to 9.00 pm
Springbank Manor Hotel, Darwen
Places are fully funded, but numbers are limited. Please only book if you are genuinely interested in attending the full course.
The course is delivered by Dawn Juson, Zen meditation, mindfulness and Zen yoga teacher and Director of Reconnection to Wellness CIC.
This course forms part of Thriving with the Seasons and has been made possible with support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Reserve your place through the Eventbrite booking link. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/.../free-8-week-stress...
About Thriving with the Seasons
Preserving Workshop
Saturday 10 October 2026 | 2.00pm–4.00pm
Springvale Church, Watery Lane, Darwen, BB3 3ET
Donation-based event | Booking essential
There was a time when preserving food was simply part of everyday life. You grew what you could, made the most of what was in season, wasted very little and found ways of carrying the abundance of one season into the next.
Join us for an afternoon exploring some of those traditional skills with Jackie Robinson, as part of our Thriving with the Seasons Heritage Fund project.
This relaxed, hands-on workshop will explore different approaches to pickling and preserving, alongside the wider wisdom behind them: being more frugal, reducing food waste, eating more seasonally and reconnecting with practices that were once passed naturally between generations.
This isn't about creating the perfect pantry or becoming an expert preserver. It is about remembering some of the simple things people used to know, sharing knowledge, asking questions and learning together.
What we'll explore
During the afternoon we'll look at:
- Traditional pickling and preserving methods
- Simple ways to make seasonal produce last longer
- Being more frugal with food
- Reducing food waste
- Using what is locally grown, available or abundant
- The seasonal traditions behind preserving food
- Ideas you can take home and try for yourself
And, as always with Thriving with the Seasons, expect plenty of wisdom sharing, conversation, laughter and connection along the way.
Why preserving matters
Before supermarkets, refrigeration and year-round access to almost every type of food, preserving was an essential part of seasonal life.
Communities grew, harvested, stored, pickled, fermented and preserved what was available so that food could carry them through the colder months. Much of this knowledge was shared through families and communities rather than written down.
That living knowledge is exactly what Thriving with the Seasons is trying to explore, celebrate and help keep alive.
Our Heritage Fund project is reconnecting people across Blackburn with Darwen with seasonal living, local food, traditional growing and preserving skills, nature and the stories that sit behind them. Heritage isn't only something that exists in museums or old buildings. It lives in recipes, gardens, kitchens, memories and the things people teach one another.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/preserving-workshop-tickets-1998869433283?aff=oddtdtcreator