The first Stockwood Soup was held on 30th November 2022, at the Stockwood and Sturminster Community Association building. ‘What is a Soup event?”, Amanda (also the Chair of the Greater Stockwood Alliance) explains:
“Your entry fee of £3 buys a vote token, and you also receive a bowl of soup. We ask attendees to bring their own bowl and spoon to keep waste to a minimum. At the event three (or more) local causes pitch their initiatives for funding, and then everyone votes by placing their token in the causes box. The first Stockwood Soup was spiced up a bit as we offered £500 for first place, £250 for second place, and £100 for third place, plus the £3 tokens.”
“We really wanted the event to be accessible to everyone so people were asked to pay what you can with a guide of £3,” says Amanda.
The event is inspired by the Soup Movement, which started in Detroit in 2013 as a way to respond to the city’s economic problems. People came together for entertainment and some good hot food. Amy Kaherl, the founder of Soup, has shared the idea across the world, and there are over 60 Soup organisations in the UK alone now.
The Greater Stockwood Alliance had some funds available from a grant given by Bristol City Council for their volunteer coordination work during the COVID19 Lockdown and wanted a mechanism where the local community were involved in distributing those funds – and so Stockwood Soup was born! The Alliance is focused upon supporting initiatives that benefit the people of Stockwood and the environment.
The three causes which pitched at the Stockwood Soup were - Stockwood Growing Together, Stockwood Cubs (Wednesday) and Yoga with Nafisah, with the Cubs group taking away the top community investment of £540.26. The funds won by the Stockwood Cubs will go towards reducing activity fees for those cubs that may not be able to afford activities otherwise.
We asked Nafisa for some further information about her research - “My project is called Building Emotional Capacity of Workers (teachers, carers, and healthcare professionals). My goal is to make this a holistic mapping service for institutions, especially care and healthcare institutions… I have studied the impact of healthy attachment in childhood and how a good number of adults lacked this due to many reasons that are based upon complex trauma. These adults usually have the heart to help others and may become parents too. Little do they know they carry their childhood patterns with them and the need to heal and become emotionally available to themselves. In the process, they are truly able to hold space for the people they care for.
Many recent factors such as the COVID pandemic and the financial crisis have brought with them worry, stress and mental health issues. I am a medical doctor and have a master’s in public health. I have always wondered what brings permanent and lasting change, and the answer may be here, workers healing and the institutions they work for seeing this as vital to the overall progress of the society. Next time you see an adult, especially one who treats and/or cares for others, view them as human beings with a story that needs to be told. They are one of the most silenced parts of the society.
We can only meet people as far as we have met ourselves.
Power is energy in motion. It is channelling energy to fulfil a desired outcome. Power has shown me what is possible even without physical proof, all I do is direct the energy within to light up the way."