Brink! Spring Equinox Workshops

Spring tonic and fermentation workshop Pauline O'Flynn & Leasha Hogan (Grá Fiánta Herbal)

Wednesday 19th March 2025: 11am-2pm

In this workshop we’ll make a Spring tonic from what’s growing all around us, learning to identify wild plants growing in your local area.We’ll learn the basics of fermenting to superpower our vegetables. Finish the workshop off with a kraut toastie and cup of herbal tea round the fire.

Nature provides us with all that we need, if we stop to notice and look after it in return. We’ve been sold the myth that we must buy everything, preferably from big companies who care little for us or the planet. The climate crisis is really a crisis of disconnection from ourselves and the world around us. So learning to grow, cook, process, create are radical acts. Through locally grown, lovingly made food and folk medicine we can reconnect with the earth, learn to live more slowly and in right relationship with the land.

Leasha is a community folk herbalist; she works under the name 'Grá Fiánta' which means ‘fierce love’. Leasha's work is rooted in the city ecosystem and is guided by principles of solidarity, mutual aid, and reciprocity. Through her work as a herbalist, Leasha aims to reconnect people with traditional knowledge of plant medicine and mobilise it in support of people experiencing marginalisation and oppression as part of the wider struggle for rights, community sovereignty, and justice.

Pauline has been a community organiser since 2001, creatively holding space for others to bring their ideas to life. She is interested in how as communities we can organise to address the interconnected issues of our time – inequity, climate breakdown and loss of connectivity (to each other, nature and ourselves). She sees access to healthy and affordable food as an important part of this story. Her work is rooted in nature-based practice, taking inspiration from the natural world.

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RESCUED by MARIE NANCARROW Jeans to denim buckey hats

Thursday 20th March 2025: 10am-1pm

Join Marie Nancarrow for a RESCUED workshop, where circular fashion meets creativity! Transform your preloved jeans into a super cool, bespoke denim bucket hat.

Perfect for all skill levels, this hands-on session lets you personalise your design while embracing the principles of circular fashion.

Marie Nancarrow is the multi-award-winning creative force behind Titanic Denim, a brand known for its handcrafted, sustainable denim designs. Driven by a passion for circular fashion, she launched the RESCUED initiative to give preloved textiles a new life through creative workshops and bespoke pieces.

In addition to empowering individuals with sewing skills, RESCUED collaborates with companies to transform surplus textiles into unique corporate merchandise, helping businesses embrace sustainability and reduce their environmental impact. Through her work, Marie is inspiring a shift towards more conscious, waste-free fashion.

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From Plants to Colours by Malú Colorín (Talú)

Friday 21st March 2025: 10am-1pm

Join natural dyer Malú Colorín from Talú in a fun workshop where we'll discover how to transform plants into colours for textiles! We will delve into the main principles to consider when choosing dyestuffs and learn tried and tested methods to get the colour to *stay*.
We will use a mixture of plants foraged on-site, kitchen scraps and some historical European dye plants known for their colour reliability. You will learn how to prepare the textiles and what are the best plants (and kitchen scraps) to use for dyeing.

As the morning goes by, you'll become familiar with two different natural dyeing techniques to achieve both solid colours and multicoloured textured looks.
Finally, we will play with colour modifiers to expand our colour palette, revealing different hues from the same plant. At the end of the workshop, you'll leave with your very own custom-dyed Irish linen kerchief and wool samples!

Malú Colorín is a Mexican natural dyer and designer living in West Wicklow. She is the founder of Talú, a natural dye house and educational hub that helps creatives reconnect to colour and the Land through workshops, events & dye services.

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Designing with reclaimed materials by Siofra Caherty (Jump The Hedges)

Saturday 22nd March 2025: 11am-1pm

In this interactive and hands-on workshop we will learn all about Síofra's innovative material led approach to design and product creation.We will work with reclaimed banner cloth to create our own keyring accessory.This workshop is suited to adults and children over 12 years old that are able to use scissors unsupervised.

Jump The Hedges is an award winning sustainable design studio founded by Síofra Caherty and based in Belfast. Jump The Hedges is known for making bags from reclaimed materials such as truck tarpaulin and waste leather. As well as this the studio recently launched a Farm to Garment T-shirt project which focused on recognising each contributor in the making of a garment; from the cotton field to factory floor.

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Urban Growing by Craig Sands (Grow NI)

Saturday 22nd March 2025: 2-5pm

This workshop will explore how to create and manage a food garden in an urban environment. Craig will give a short tour of the Brink! garden and explain what informed the design and development of this space. Participants will gain practical experience of preparing and sowing crops in Brink’s iconic bathtub growing beds as well as sowing seeds to take home. We will explore soil health, how to understand your site, choosing the right plant for the right place, and growing for biodiversity.

Craig Sands has over 20 years’ experience in organic horticulture, particularly food growing. He works with Grow NI as a community gardener at the Waterworks Community Garden in North Belfast and as a partner at Brink!

Grow supports the development of healthy, inclusive communities through community gardens, supporting the delivery of initiatives to address food poverty, promote wellbeing, build community cohesion and develop natural spaces. Grow supports community leadership and ownership, working alongside people to create the space within which individuals and communities can flourish.

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Skateboard Fashion by CHRIS WILEY (FOXY ROKS)

Sunday 23rd March 2025: 2-5pm

Practical Workshops are focused on individual curiosity, learning new skills, connecting with others, whilst creating your very own piece of skate art or fashion accessory to take home at the end of the day.

The Work shop will be led by Chris Wiley and all materials are supplied.

No experience is necessary.

Recycling skateboards.

Globally, hundreds of thousands of skateboard decks are manufactured every year, after a colourful and exciting life on our streets, a large proportion of these fallen boards end up buried in landfill sites.

Skateboards are made from 7 layers of Maple wood. Maple wood comes from a beautiful, slow growing tree, which matures at around 30 years old. If left to flourish they can live for up to 300 years, providing an oxygen rich atmosphere and an essential habitats for the planet’s wild life.

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