Last week, I had my annual visit to Idle Women in Accrington - something I always look forward to. I’ve been working mainly remotely with the five trainees (two gardeners and two producers) since 2025. During my visit, we focused on their forthcoming appraisals - reflecting back and thinking about the last six months of their traineeships. After a lovely lunch, I was given a tour of the allotment by the trainee gardeners and given a bag of vegetables to take home. They have done so much since my last visit - in particular, it was wonderful to see their pond project and how much their fruit trees have grown!

This is an amazing women’s project that I feel very privileged to work on. If you don’t know Idle Women do take a look at their website here.