Birds, stories, a volcano, willows: a winter day in the Community Garden, Sunday 25th January

All welcome to join us for a winter day this weekend in the 
Tooting Community Garden at 5 North Drive, SW16 1RN

Brave the cold outside, 

and swap screen time for wild time

1030-1130	Shhhhh…take part in the RSPB Garden Birdwatch
1145	Bird-themed storytelling with Emily Duizend
1200	Tea making with the volcano kettle
1230-1330	Get active adding willow to our living willow yurt

>Come for any part or all of the day
>For all ages 5-105
>All materials provided
>The activity area is wheelchair accessible
>Nearest toilet to the garden is at Tooting Athletics Track
>To see the poster: click here 

>Updates: Tooting Community Garden or Transition Town Tooting on Facebook
>Many thanks to Emily Duizend: www.storyisland.net

We started the willow yurt 3 years ago

Any queries, please comment on Facebook or email us here

fanSHEN Tooting Walks

Theatre group fanSHEN took centre stage at this year's Foodival with their anarchic performance of the Applecart, which engaged young, medium and old alike.  They also sent at least 50 interested visitors around the local area on a guided Tooting Walk.  Two walks have been recorded and anyone can try them out: one a half hour loop from Samaj Hall and the other from Tooting Broadway to the Lido which lasts about 40 minutes.  Both walks are available for download at the fanSHEN site HERE.

Applecart at Foodival, Sep 14th 2014

fanSHEN director Dan Barnard says: "the sound files and route maps are free to download and you can either listen to them as you do the walks (which enhances the experience) or just listen to them as radio programmes, which works well too! You may recognise some of the voices! "

Thanks to Dan and the team at fanSHEN for producing these fascinating and enjoyable trips round Tooting.

Open Day in the Garden 15th June

On June 15th, as part of the Open Garden Squares weekend, TTT presents the Tooting Community Garden Open Day & Father's Day Fete at the Community Garden, 5 North Drive, not far the Lido. Come and discover for yourself this hidden garden paradise. It's free, naturally, and there are events for all ages including story-telling, paper making and games.

Or maybe you would just like to come and experience this reclaimed semi-wild growing space, chill out and picnic or get some gardening advice from those involved in the projects we run with community volunteers and local schoolchildren.   

There will also be the usual garden session from 11 till 1 for anyone interested in getting involved. 

All welcome, whatever you fancy.  

AGM Report

The 2014 AGM and 6th birthday party took place last Tuesday.  There was a Tooting related quiz and the usual AGM formalities of re-electing co-chairs and presenting accounts before a brief update on projects past present and future. 

While we look forward to big events like the Foodival, three exciting new ideas include a drive to promote products "Made in Tooting", Carbon Collaborations to add to Conversations and an autumn Looking Out For Tooting event finding alternative viewpoints of our beloved urban nexus.  Keep a look out for more on these on this blog and social media.

Meanwhile today there's a well being walk (Sir Owain and the Lady of the Well) ending on the Common where fanSHEN will perform the Applecart, both as part of the Wandsworth Arts Festival Fringe. Get down there if you can!

Stories Told in the Garden

Yesterday's Story Telling at the Community Garden with Emily Duizend (Story Island) was a really successful event, raising £240 for Macmillan Cancer Support.  The garden bedecked in bunting provided a tranquil setting for a crowd spanning the ages to relax, eat cakes and enjoy music from guitar and sitar, and stories from Emily and Vanessa.

Many of those visiting were new to the garden, so there were many questions about the space and how it is used.

We look forward to more chances to stage events in the garden.  Local youngsters' learning opportunities continue in this special green space with the Gatton School visits on Tuesdays while the regular Sunday gardening sessions continue between 11 and 1.  Mail TTT if you would like to find out more.  Everyone is welcome to get involved.

Thanks to Emily for organising this event.

Magical Day of Stories with Tooting Library May 11th

The 2nd Day of Stories with Tooting Library was a surprising and experimental day. In the morning and afternoon we were transported from the centre of Tooting to join five storytellers' worlds of wonder - crossing boundaries of geography and time from Norfolk to the Great Plains, with sound effects from the beautiful (the harmonica) to the funny (blowing custard through straws).

In the middle of the day we offered two and a half hours of printing from plants (it was difficult to stop), using leaves gathered that morning in Tooting.  Have a look at the slide show below, to see concentration and the work of many hands in action!
We rolled out ink, selected leaves and coloured paper, folded it all up and rubbed with our hands to transfer the image, feeling the different leaves through the paper.  Some continued with another colour or a different leaf, producing detailed and dramatic results.

Many thanks to all who came and took part, and to our colleagues from the Library

We'll be offering plant printing, and storytelling with Alison Royce, in Tooting on Sunday 9th June, at the 'Tooting Community Growing' open day at the Community Garden at 5 North Drive. For more information click here, and all ages very welcome.

Be creative in Tooting! 'Day of Stories 2013' on Saturday 11th May, plus two events this weekend

Saturday 4^th May: ‘Wish You Were Here’ Crafty Pint’s workshop printing souvenirs of Tooting, at the Tooting Tram, 12:00 - 6:00. For details click click here

Sunday 5^th May: ‘The Jigsaw Horse’ storytelling and art promenade leaves Sprout Arts in Furzedown at 1:00. For details click here

Saturday May 11th: Welcome to the 2nd Tooting Library and Transition Town Tooting 'Day of Stories'

This free, exciting and diverse day is on Saturday May 11th, 10:00 to 4:00, in Tooting Children's Library, 75 Mitcham Road, SW17 9PD

No need to book - just pop in any time to join in some stories and make creative nature prints and stay as long as you like. This is a family day for children and their parents / carers - all welcome to take part.



10:00-11:00 ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ + Bill. …see below!

11:15- 1:45 ‘Stories of Wonder’ + Alison

12:00-2:30  'Nature printing '+ Chuck and Jane from TTT

2:30-3:00  ‘Snakes, Lizards and Giants!’ Stories on sharing + Emily

3:15-4:00  ‘Adventures of the Jumping Mouse’ + Marika and Hannah

More details:

Going on a Bear Hunt with Bill!  A great way to bring a book to life is by making sound effects to go along with your favourite story, and even recording these sounds to play the next time.
Join Tooting Children's Librarian Bill Bawden for a fun creative workshop with the aim of making a recording of Michael Rosen's classic "We're going on a Bear Hunt". Learn how to use everyday objects to make sounds such as splashing through rivers, squelching through mud and stumbling through forests!
The final recording will be made available to download for free and can be used to bring the story to life again and again!

Nature Printing  Come and try an unusual, historic and magical technique: printing directly from leaves and plants. It is quick to learn, and it is not hard to get very beautiful results.

We’ll collect springtime leaves in advance from across Tooting – or you can bring some in.          Then we’ll pass on this historic method for creating surprising and detailed prints.


You’ll enjoy this:

Ø if you like trying new things

Ø if you are interested in looking at plants in a new way

Ø if you like experimenting with textures, shapes, and patterns 

Ø if you want to make cards, posters or presents to take home

Come at 12:00 for an introduction, and we’ll show you how to print, or drop in anytime until 2:30. Materials provided, and we’ll adapt this to all ages and abilities: all welcome!

There’s a blog for the Day of Stories: click here 

Day of Stories in Tooting Library - Visions for Tooting on a big jigsaw

On Saturday 3rd November TTT helped Tooting Library run a drop-in Day of Stories.
Library staff and volunteers read engaging stories, Alison offered a participative 'live' story, and Jane & Charles ran 2 hours of making and crafts that also told a story: 'What would you like to see in Tooting?'

Children and adults took part, and there was a great atmosphere on the first floor of the Library - the sun streaming in the windows, mixed ages busy on different activities on the carpet or tables, a row of other young people on the computers, storytelling in the middle of the space: all in all, certainly what we love to see in Tooting! 



Many thanks to Liz, Bill and Heather in the Library. We are hoping to be be offering crafts and making again on Saturday December 15th in the Library - more details to follow, and please come along.

Day of Stories in Tooting Library: Saturday 3rd Nov

Tooting Library + Transition Town Tooting present a free Day of Stories. Saturday 3rd November. Tooting Library, 75 Mitcham Road, SW17 9PD. Phone: 020 8871 7175

Come and celebrate the magic of stories at Tooting Library!

Throughout the day staff and volunteers will be sharing some of their favourite stories in the specially-created Story Zone, featuring classics and new favourites. And, help put together a visual story of a sustainable future in Tooting!

The Day of Story at Tooting Library marks the launch of Transition Town Tooting's Imagining Tooting project, which is gathering together views and ideas on a flourishing local future for Tooting, from many voices in the community.

Programme for the day:
10:30 am. Story: Handa's Surprise, and Handa's Hen
11:00 am. Story: Peace at Last and The Tiger Who Came to Tea
11:30 am. Story: The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child

12:00-2:00pm. Crafts & making with TTT. Come along and use the craft materials provided to make props and illustrations for a creative story about our shared future in Tooting.
For all ages - families, individuals, children and young people are welcome to join in. Drop in or stay as long as you like.
No art experience necessary - just bring along your interest in Tooting, and try out some fun techniques with TTT.

2:00 pm. Story: Local storyteller Alison Royce presents her Stories of Wonder and  Surprise, for ages 7-adult.
2:30 pm. Story: Mog the Forgetful Cat and The Rainbow Fish
3:00 pm. Story: Dog's Don't do Ballet and Goldilocks and Just the One Bear

Children's and adults' book-sale all day