On all Saints Day at Leeds Trinity University Step into the Gap Volunteer Madeline Woods held a CAFOD stall to raise awareness on the environment and living simply. We asked Madeline what the event was all about.
- What was on the table? What props did you use?
“The fruit and vegetables I had on the table for people to identify were:
Papaya Celeriac Pomegranate Persimmon/Sharon Fruit (Purple) Carrot Onion Grapefruit Ginger Pumpkin Passion Fruit Radish Turnip/Swede Aubergine/Eggplant Pomelo and pepper
Also I had a CAFOD banner, posters and a donation box as well as leaflets about CAFOD for people to take. I provided a notebook on the table for people to jot down any ideas they have about how we as individuals, the university, the world! can be more green.”
- What did you invite people to do when they were at the table? Madeline explained
CAFOD gapper Madeline quizzes staff and students on Live Simply
“I primarily asked people to take part in the vegetable quiz. I also asked people for any ideas of how we could be greener.”
- What was the reaction of the people who took part?
“People really enjoyed the vegetable quiz and gave me a lot of positive feedback. The weird looking vegetables enticed people in, and I could then speak to them about CAFOD and Live Simply.”
- What do you think will happen next from this action?
“Staff and students at the university, as well as people in the local community, now know who I am more, and know about CAFOD and the work we do. Students at the university will feel they have had a say in live simply, as it is the ideas they provided which will be the basis of the programme here.”
- How did you feel doing this action?
“I felt that the whole day was amazing, and being able to chat with people about CAFOD is always wonderful. I got to build relationships with so many people through just talking about vegetables, which is a sentence I never thought I’d say!”
- What would you say to encourage others to do this?
“I would really encourage students and parishes to take part as it is a really good thing to do. What’s more the vegetables were kindly donated by Sarah Marston at Morrison’s in Horsforth, who is the Community Champion. This means that the event was free to run, raised awareness of CAFOD and meant that the winner got a huge amount of fruit and vegetables! Providing students with food, talking about an amazing charity and getting to talk about weird looking veg – what could be better? ”
- What will you be planning next?
Madeline said “Off the back of this stall, I intend to launch Live Simply here at the university. The students have given me some wonderful ideas for getting the university to be greener, and are already involved.”
