November 26, 2015

A day in the life- Support Worker Len Edmondson and Andrew

Len Edmonson has worked for PSS for over 10 years, starting off in St Helens Community support before taking some hours here with Liverpool Community Support.

Every Thursday he supports Andrew, and The Loop joined them to see how a typical Thursday goes for the pair…. Little did we know we’d have a tasty homemade treat to take away.

Every Tuesday and Thursday Liverpool City Centre Methodist Church opens its doors to the community for a bread making workshop. They describe the workshops as ‘gathering the community round the making and sharing of bread’, and over the past 6 years pastor Ian has been doing just that. At 10.30 am a small queue was forming outside their building on Bold Street (they’re based above the news from nowhere bookshop) with everyone keen to get in and start baking.

Once inside we were greeted by Ian and Sue who work for the church and talked us newbies through the bread making process. Len and Andrew are regularly and so went straight to the sink to wash their hands and get first pick of the aprons while Ian explained the different types of flour to me

‘You can pick between white, granary or wholemeal flour, we normally recommend a blend with some white just to help it rise. We also suggest that people bake 2 loaves and give one away to a stranger, we’re encouraging random acts of kindness in the community. It’s quite quiet today, which is a nice change from having 29 people here on Tuesday!’

Once we had our flour it was time to start mixing. ‘Andrew doesn’t always join in with this part of the process, but I always talk him through what we’re adding to the mix and why. Once it’s time to knead the dough that’s when Andrew enjoys getting involved’ during the mixing Andrew relaxed with a cup of tea and some lovely homemade shortbread made to celebrate group leader Sue’s birthday.

‘This is a great activity for Andrew as it means he’s around lots of different people and is trying out different things. In the summer he gets outside and do activities like bike riding in Wavetree and on Wednesdays he sometimes goes horse riding with his mum. But when the weather gets colder these activities become less enjoyable for Andrew. We’re always on the lookout for alternatives that he’ll still enjoy and get something out of.’

Once the dough is kneaded it goes in a proving cupboard (bake off fans will be familiar with these) and is only removed once it’s doubled in size. To make sure everyone knows what loaf is theirs we use a small amount of dough to put our initials on the top.

After another round of kneading and proving the loaves go in to bake and it’s lunch time.

For just £1 anyone can help themselves to homemade bread rolls and a vegetarian soup. Andrew always bring his own sandwiches from home but stays for lunch with the group.

‘Andrew always enjoys coming here, he’s always laughing and smiling and getting stuck in with kneading the dough’ says Len ‘I always enjoy coming to work to support Andrew, he’s great company’

NOTES:

Somewhere Else community bread making runs Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10.30-2 (last flour weigh at 11am)

For more information email: info@somewhere-else.org.uk or tel: 0151 706 0155

RECIPE

Our recipe for 2x 1lb/0.5 kg loaves

In measuring jug, mix:

6 flat teaspoons of yeast
1 pint (20 fluid ounces) or 600ml of warm water
Heaped teaspoon of honey

In a bowl mix:

2lb/ 1kg of bread flour
2 teaspoons of salt
Drizzle of oil

Method:

Still the honey, yeast and warm water well and leave to froth (about 10 mins)
Sift the oil, flour and salt until there are no lumps
Combine yeast mixture and flour
Knead well (20 minutes)
Leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size
Knead again, gently for a couple of minutes
Shape
Leave to rise again until doubled in size
Bake at 200 degrees C or Gas Mark 6 for 30 minutes (loaf) or 20 minutes (rolls) cooked bread sounds hollow when it is tapped on the bottom
Cool on a rack. Freezes well and makes great toast. ENJOY