Craigmillar Community Campfire

You might remember from our last blog that we had recently been working with The Bothy to provide a five-week cooking course as part of their Women’s Cook Club. The group were absolutely incredible and by the end of the five weeks they were more than ready to take on catering for a much-anticipated community event on bonfire night.

Bonfire night is an important night for getting together to mark the turning of the seasons, and for many it holds nostalgic memories of being amazed by sparklers, fireworks and crackling fires. But for many in Niddrie, the night of November 5th has become associated with fear and anxiety. This year, Edinburgh Food Social and other local community groups and social enterprises were determined to ensure that the local community had a safe place to gather, eat together, and enjoy the true spirit of bonfire night amongst friends and family. We were delighted to support the Craigmillar Community Campfire event by providing free food for the community as part of our cookery projects with the Bothy and some home school families.

Finally, the big day came, and the kitchen was busy with activity. The menu for the night; beef stovies, pumpkin stovies, homemade marshmallows, apple crumble. The day before we’d had our home-school families in to prep up everything for the beef stovies – they put their weeks of classes to good work and churned out some delicious food in record time. On the day of the event, the team of Bothy ladies arrived, along with a few other members of the Bothy who hadn’t been at the classes, but were keen to get involved – we loved this. A quick briefing about the evening and so it began. All stations were immediately full of people chopping, slicing, dicing and some even singing (yes, the radio was blaring that day). The stickiest job of the day was definitely getting 300 homemade marshmallows onto skewers. 

Sandy’s Community Centre couldn’t have been a better host for the wonderful Community Campfire. The trees were illuminated in gorgeous lights, projectors were shooting light shows onto walls, there was a silent disco, fire pits to accompany the marshmallows, and even an outstanding aerial displays from Aerial Art House. The night was full of festivities and chatter. The ladies and young people lined up at our station, aprons on, ready to serve the public. The queue began to form, and suddenly it was snaking through the park. The food was clearly a hit as the shout for “we need the next tray of stovies” came approximately five minutes after the serving had begun!

We had anticipated cooking for 300 members of the public who were going to be attending the event, but demand was huge and in total well over 600 people attended the Community Campfire! We hurried back and forth from the kitchen to get extra hot food and make up new batches of hot chocolate. The phenomenal attendance was a testament to the community spirit of this neighbourhood, and the value of investing in these community spaces and events. Many remarked on how much they appreciated having a space to bring their children to enjoy toasting marshmallows and watch the performances. 

Over 600 hungry mouths later and the food was gone. We had no leftovers, but a very satisfied community. This project was a roaring success. The ladies and families were a delight: they learned a lot, and worked so hard. Most importantly, they contributed to creating an incredible evening of family fun for their community, and kindkled many fantastic memories for those who attended. As our friends at Aerial Art House said, “although this area may have a challenging reputation, that doesn’t mean we should fear it. Instead, we should bring joy, support, and amazing entertainment, and help to make the community a better place”. What an effort from the Bothy group, and what a result. 

Particular thanks to Community Alliance Trust, Sandys Community Centre and Edinburgh & Lothian Green Space Trust for all being amazing and showing what we can do if we all work together.