The Outback Community Kitchen & Garden

🌼🐝 Celebrating Collaboration at The Outback! 🧶🌿

At Halifax Opportunities Trust, We Collaborate isn’t just a HOT value — it’s something we live every day. Last week, that spirit came to life in the most joyful and creative way.

Members of Staying Well’s Knit & Natter group lovingly crafted a beautiful collection of hand‑knitted bees and birds, to be sold at the Seeds of Hope Festival, helping support The Outback Community Kitchen & Garden and the work we do together.

A huge thank you to everyone in the Knit & Natter group, your birds and bees went down a storm! 💚

🍞 Fancy getting into sourdough?

Join us at The Outback Community Kitchen & Garden for an Introduction to Sourdough Making workshop, delivered by a local micro-bakery, Companyhfx 👩‍🍳🌾

Learn the basics of making your own delicious sourdough, discover more about the process and pick up tips you can take home and try for yourself.

A great chance to learn a new skill, meet others and enjoy a morning of food, community and The Outback's beautiful garden. 🌿

📍 The Outback Community Kitchen & Garden, Halifax
Sunday 13th September, 10 am - 12 noon

Part of the Calderdale Festival of Food

👉 Find out more and book your place: https://www.visitcalderdale.com/event/introduction-to-sourdough-making-at-outback-community-kitchen/

Introduction to Sourdough Making at Outback Community Kitchen | Visit Calderdale   This event is part of the Calderdale Festival of Food – two weeks of eating and exploring in Calderdale, from the 7th – 20th September. Discover more about the [...]Read More...

🐝🍯 Happy World Honey Bee Day! 🌻🌿

Today we’re celebrating the incredible little pollinators who play such a vital role in our community garden and beyond.

We’re very proud that here at the Outback Community Kitchen and Garden, we produce our very own honey! 🍯

A huge thank you to the amazing Park Ward Pollinators and our wonderful beekeeper Neil, who carefully look after our hives and help us produce this delicious local honey. 🐝💛

Our bees do an incredible job of pollinating the plants and flowers around our garden, helping our growing spaces thrive while giving us a little taste of their hard work too!

Here’s to our busy bees, brilliant beekeepers and all the pollinators that help our gardens grow. 🌼🐝🌱

Image by Orion Aperture Creative Media Production

A lovely start Seeds of Hope Stage at the Lake come by and see our 'miniature outback' we have produce, honey 🍯, jam, soap and knitted bees and birds for sale ❤️

🌱 We're heading to the Seeds of Hope Festival! 🌼

We're so excited to be part of this year's Seeds of Hope Festival at Stage at the Lake, especially the very first event for children and families – The Seedlings Play Garden!

Over the past few months, our incredible volunteers, staff and local community have been hard at work creating a mini version of The Outback Community Kitchen & Garden to showcase at the festival.

Our show garden celebrates everything The Outback is about – 🌿 growing fresh food, 🐝 supporting wildlife and pollinators, 🤝 bringing people together and creating a welcoming space where everyone can thrive.

It's been a true community effort, and we couldn't be prouder of what we've created together.

And we have to admit... we're huge fans of Mr Bloom's Band too! 🌻🎶 We can't wait to soak up the festival atmosphere and see lots of families enjoying everything the day has to offer.

If you're visiting the festival, come and say hello, explore our garden and see the amazing work our volunteers and community have made possible. We can't wait to share it with you! 💚

🌿 The countdown is on! 🌿

Less than 2 weeks to go until the Seeds of Hope Festival at Shibden Park from 13–16 August, where we can showcase the hard work of our amazing volunteers and local community who have been busy creating a mini version of the Outback Community Kitchen and Garden! 🌼🐝🥕

The show garden celebrates everything the Outback is about – growing food, supporting wildlife, bringing people together and creating a welcoming space where everyone can thrive. It's been a real community effort, and we can't wait to share it with you.

Why not come along and see what we've created? You'll also have the chance to explore nine other fantastic community show gardens, each with its own unique story and inspiration.

📅 13–16 August
⏰ 10:00am – 3:00pm
📍 Shibden Park
🎟️ Free to visit

We'd love to see you there and celebrate the fantastic work of communities across Calderdale! 🌱💚

🌿 Meet the Team at The Outback Community Kitchen & Garden

Say hello to some of the wonderful people who help make The Outback such a welcoming, creative and community-led space.

Sarah – Outback Manager
Sarah has worked for HOT for 14 years and loves the people most — colleagues, volunteers and the local community. She’s proud of the beautiful space The Outback has become and is excited for the team to showcase a mini version of the garden at the Seeds of Hope Festival at Shibden Park.

Verity – Community Gardener
Verity has been with HOT for 5 years and loves how inclusive The Outback is. She enjoys helping people discover the benefits of gardening, especially through family gardening sessions. This year, she’s loved working with volunteers and the community to bring the Seeds of Hope show garden to life.

Anila - Community Food Worker
Anila has worked for HOT for 4 years and is passionate about bringing people together through food. She loves cooking with the community, supporting people to build confidence in the kitchen, and making the most of fresh garden produce through our Plot to Plate sessions.

Together, they help The Outback grow — not just fruit, veg and flowers, but friendships, skills and community spirit too. 💚