A group of Lake District poets have announced a collection of work written during COVID-19 to raise funds for a foodbank and food waste project.
The Birthwaite Bards, a group of senior Windermere poets, has been meeting in-person once a week to write poetry since 2014.
Since the first lockdown last March they have been forced to come to grips with technology and overcome many challenges to move online.
The poetry group, formed in 2014, was initially facilitated by Harriet Fraser through the Wordsworth Trust Outreach program, has continued to meet weekly despite all their COVID-19 challenges.
Before lockdown, the group met at Birthwaite, a seniors residence in Windermere, but social distancing restrictions meant the group could no longer meet in person.
The first months were almost completely devoted to conquering the basics of technology including video conferencing platforms, trying out the likes of Zoom, Facebook Messenger Rooms and Google Meet to find a suitable platform, along with other obstacles and issues that cropped up such as ancient decrepit computers and glitchy software.
After mastering the technology, the group compiled a book called Quarantine – Safe and Unseen with the help of a local volunteering graphic designer, Tracey-Lee Scully, and are using their book to fundraise for local causes.
They have agreed to support Windermere Food Bank and Waste into Wellbeing – Kendal People’s Cafe, offering the book online for anyone to read and make donations to either of the organisations.
The group will also publish the book and sell the printed copies through Amazon, with profits going to the charities.
“Patience, persistence, and well-cultivated senses of humour allowed a continued poetic response to the painful, complex and challenging issues facing us all during our lockdowns,” said Sean Hunt, group facilitator.
“Lockdown threatened to extinguish our poetry group, but thanks to tech-savvy organisers we continued to laugh and compose and share inspiration, using Zoom as if we’d always done it – but always looking forward to being unconfined,” – poet Janet Aitch added.
Visit their website to read their collection and support the causes they are fundraising for by making a donation – birthwaitebards.wixsite.com/website/book
