This has been busy Autumn for Garvald Edinburgh. In early October, Waterside Workshops held its 5th annual Harvest Festival, and welcomed members, friends, families and colleagues from other Garvald sites to share the fruits of the past year’s work. Our new puppet show, “Where the Wild Things Are”, made its debut in a sold-out performance (more shows are planned in the coming months so others can enjoy this beautiful story). And new this year, our colleagues from the Gorgie Workshops joined us with a selection of refurbished tools for sale.
2019 marks the 50th birthday of Garvald Edinburgh. In early November we celebrated this milestone with a fabulous party at the Corn Exchange. Garvald staff, members, families, friends, volunteers, old faces and new, enjoyed a wonderful evening, with food, dancing, a ceilidh and performance from Garvald’s very own band – “the Gorgie Go-getters”.
In recent weeks, two of our sites – Orwell Arts and Mayfield – have opened their doors to the public for their Christmas Bazaar (Orwell) and Market (Mayfield). Both events were well attended and provided a warm welcome, delicious food, Christmas tunes, and a beautiful start to the festive season. It was also an opportunity to take home some unique, hand crafted gifts, as the event showcased the incredible artistic talent of our members. Across these two sites Garvald provides creative workshops which include pottery, glass, painting, weaving and textiles, jewellery, and the garden group. If you were not able to attend these events, you also have the chance to see our members’ work on sale at our Mulberry Bush Shop in Morningside.
After all this busyness, we are now taking a breath and enjoying the season of Advent with our members. We have one last week of festive creativity before we close for the Christmas break. Workshops are being decorated, cards are made, carols are practiced, and preparations are being made for our members’ Christmas lunch across all our sites.
Our thanks go to Vegware for once again for providing supplies for our various events. And we wish everyone a peaceful festive season and a very Happy New Year!
