News

‘Outstanding’: Funder’s Verdict on Latest Project

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Planet Leicester Bakers is delighted with the response of ‘outstanding’ from funders Time to Change Leicester to our latest community project. The idea for Leicester Bread Clubs was first promoted in edition 3 of Planet Leicester News in  2017. The project report (available as a PDF here) details the first Leicester Bread Clubs project, which has been developed and delivered in partnership with Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.

The funders were delighted with the report as well, feeling that it was ‘incredibly comprehensive’ and ‘a great mix of statistics and stories that captured the impact the project has had for service users’. The media release gives a flavour of the success of the project: …

‘Outstanding’: Funder’s Verdict on Latest ProjectRead More »

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Building a Team’s Well-Being at the Windmill

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A service from Planet Leicester Bakers that is increasingly seeing inquiries is that for team building . Recently I was delighted to work with the large Nottingham employer, Capital One, and a team of their data analysts. We spent a rainy day up on the hill in Sneinton, making bread under the watchful sails of Green’s Windmill.

Despite the rain the Capital One team embraced every moment with the dough!

Green’s Windmill is a working windmill charity and have an education kitchen room on-site which is perfect for group bread baking. We were able to support the charity further by using their flour and, not only that, the venue included a tour of the windmill in the price. We made pizza dough and windmill volunteers baked the pizzas for lunch in the garden pizza oven.

The team worked well together in pairs of Bread Buddies and all received certificates and their bread to take away.

It is rare to find bread bakers in teams – which is part of the joy of offering this activity to build togetherness and well-being. It demands supporting each other and team members finding their way through a new and unfamiliar task, negotiating joint decisions. Everyone got to take away a recipe if they wished and left with new knowledge about this much-loved staple food.

” It was a very productive and well-organized event. We received a detailed nicely made plan/information beforehand. On the day, we got the opportunity to team up and learn new baking skills and taste the product made by ourselves. The choice of the venue is really good and special. We got the opportunity to have the pizza baked onsite and have had a nice tour of the historical place.” Capital One’s  organiser

The days are very much tailored to the needs of the team so the first step in booking is to get in touch and start to plan. Another team, this time from the NHS, is booked for September. Community venues can be suggested by Planet Leicester Bakers and if you are based in Nottingham, Green’s Windmill would be delighted to host us again!

The ‘Almost Award Winning’ Bakery of the 1/2 Year!

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It’s been a busy first half of the year with awards happening here and there.As you may have read in the previous post, Planet Leicester Bakers was shortlisted in the ‘Heart of Gold’ category at this year’s national Small Awards. The awards celebrate small businesses and this category was recognising services to the community.

It was a lovely evening at Mary’s Church, Marylebone, London. With a three course meal and plenty of refreshment! We weren’t in luck with the award, which went to Bee Naturals, but I thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with fellow Fulham Bread Angel Liz (aka Ma Baker) and making plenty of connections.

A lovely setting for the Small Awards in Marylebone

A few weeks earlier in April Planet Leicester Bakers also missed out in the national Small Food Award bread category. (You may be aware we picked up a top 3 place in the Viennoiserie category in 2016).

This time the Amalfi Lemon and Poppyseed loaf came 4th – which was brilliant. All three top places went to Bread Angels, which in itself reflects the quality of bread baker the network is home to.

4th place in the Small Food Awards: Amalfi Lemon & Poppyseed
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The Small Awards: Thrilled to be shortlisted for a business award!

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Planet Leicester Bakers is delighted to have been shortlisted in the Heart of Gold category at this year’s national business Small Awards . This category recognises the contribution the business has and is making to the local Leicester/shire community. It is also a testament to all those who have shown such passion and belief in the business and what it is seeking to achieve over the first few years.

The awards dinner is this Thursday in London. It’ll be a wonderful event and I’m looking forward to seeing fellow fabulous Bread Angel Liz Wilson (aka Ma Baker) who has been shortlisted in the sole trader business category. Keep an eye out on social media for news!

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Baking a Difference Funding Success!

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Absolutely thrilled to announce that Learning for the Fourth Age (L4A), our Baking a Difference project partners, have successfully secured the Big Lottery People’s Projects funding. A huge thank you to all who voted, shared and encouraged us along the way.

After two weeks of frenetic social media and postal vote activity we found out last week, with a visit to William House by ITN Central, where the news was unveiled.  Fiona Smith, the current L4A CEO, received the notice, with Melissa March who worked with Planet Leicester Bakers to create and deliver the pilot, there with her daughter and new baby – it was a true inter-generational event!

Fiona Smith, CEO at L4A, is filmed with the fantastic news.

The year long project will pick up and build on the original pilot. More care homes and sheltered housing settings will enjoy the wonders of Baking a Difference and its bread making activities. Not only that, but the project will aim to become sustainable beyond the funding. Volunteers and staff will be trained in delivering bread activities and we will be looking to bring communities outside the residential settings in to spend time with residents and bread.

Planet Leicester Bakers is delighted with the project proposal L4A submitted. It meets our purpose of exploiting the loveliness of bread to bring communities closer together; tackling loneliness and isolation and building bonds and understanding. We can’t wait to start!

William House resident John was just one of many Baking a Difference bakers who enjoyed the media visit last week.
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Leicester Bread Clubs to Benefit Mental Health

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Planet Leicester Bakers is delighted to share news of the first work in the Leicester Bread Clubs initiative, which was featured in edition 3 of Planet Leicester News. Working in partnership with Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, these first clubs are funded by Leicester City Council’s ‘Time to Change’ fund, which aims to improve mental health in the city.

Making bread gives time to talk.
Making bread gives time to talk – both activities at the heart of the first             Leicester Bread Clubs 

For more information, including how to volunteer on the project, check out the media release in this post. You can also contact Planet Leicester Bakers via this site, by email or phone, for more details of this exciting new initiative!  …

Leicester Bread Clubs to Benefit Mental HealthRead More »

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PLANET LEICESTER NEWS 3: OUT NOW!

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In time for Christmas, Planet Leicester News in its new 8 page format is now AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD – for free!

Packed with news of bread activity, our guest contributor Jane Mason, Founder of Bread Angels, Jane’s tasty Raisin Bread recipe and more!

Bi-annual Planet Leicester News is posted out to all registered Planet Leicester Bakers, given to current customers and project partners and available at stalls and events over the coming months.

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Comments and ideas for Planet Leicester News are always welcome, so please do drop us a line. Photos of your delicious Raisin Bread bakes for sharing on social media would raise the smile levels at PLB!

Thank you to our edition 3 sponsors, Lloyds Bank, Lloyds Bank Mentor to Planet Leicester Bakers Andrew Northcote, and local food businesses, The Bee Farmer and Thirst Media.

Local honey from Leicestershire/Derbyshire border country.

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Planet Leicester Bakers needs sponsorship to make the newsletter happen, so if you or your business, organisation etc would like to be a sponsor of edition 4 then please do get in touch.

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Read how we Baked a Difference in the community!

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Baking a Difference has been a fantastic community bread project to bad-report-covercreate and deliver in collaboration with Learning for the Fourth Age (L4A).

Over several months Planet Leicester Bakers, with L4A’s staff and volunteers, delivered 12 sessions in 3 very different residential settings for older people: a care home, nursing home and sheltered housing.

We are now delighted to share our full end of pilot project review.

We believe there is much potential for extending the project and we will be seeking further funding and opportunities to do so.

For a flavour of the project, watch this one minute video.

Questions and comments are always welcome, so do get in touch.

And if you or your organisation would be interested in collaborating with Planet Leicester Bakers then please start a conversation.

Baking a Difference was funded by the Big Lottery.

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Building a Team with Bread

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Planet Leicester Bakers recently spent a day with the staff of Community Advice and Law Service, (CALS), using bread to build team strength and relationships.  It was great fun and a first time plunging into dough for them all!  Feedback from staff has been overwhelmingly positive:

” I really enjoyed the session. It was exactly the right mix of fun, practical and information. I think I speak on behalf of the whole team when I say we came away feeling refreshed and ready to take on new challenges! Including bread making at home! “

Kay, CALS staff team member

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Building a Team with BreadRead More »