Mini Mag Home Front Issue 2022

December 2021

Fighting on the

home front Issue 1

If it’s offbeat and in Cardiff, then it’s in here

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Cardiff community battles against soil erosion

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A network of local gardeners is digging its way to a more sustainable future by cultivating organic kitchen gardens in communal allotments

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Words and images by Abby Allen

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ocal growing network simply don’t have time or Edible Cardiff is can’t physically volunteer working with local at their local garden.” people to make gardening They now support 100 more environmentally community growing sustainable. Ahead of groups involving 2,000 World Soil Day on 5 individuals across Cardiff.

December, they share tips Poppy Nicol, project on community planting, coordinator of Cardiff ’s composting, and growing. growing group Global With the rise of Gardens Project, says, pesticides, erosion and “Currently we grow less urbanisation, World Soil than 5% of fruit and Day raises awareness that vegetables needed for the The Global Gardens Project community allotment soil is not as healthy as it Welsh population to meet is located off Whitchurch Road, Cardiff. used to be. their five a day.”

The work of community In light of World Soil Day, networks like Edible Cardiff proves vital in planting Poppy says the health of Cardiff soil could the seed for an environmentally sustainable future. be better. “The council should stop using South Wales development worker Lisa Williams glyphosate-based pesticides on streets and support explains that Edible Cardiff brings local gardeners community groups accessing land to grow fruit and volunteers together, using community and vegetables,” she says. allotments to grow and share more sustainably These community groups are promoting a nutritious food. more practical way forward for soil preservation With shortages of fresh fruit and vegetables including tips and tricks on how to set up your during the pandemic, Edible Cardiff launched own compost heap. growing kits to promote growing from home.

Global Gardens Project plans to launch a new She explains, “We saw an opportunity to reach initiative in 2022, which will enable volunteers to far deeper into communities and inspire those who gain skills for more sustainable futures.

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Grammable grub

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new café promising an instagrammable experience from start to finish is coming to Roath’s City Road in mid-November.

Expanding his business in a post-lockdown venture, Maithem Al-Kelaby will open Cardiff ’s first Middle Eastern-British fusion brunch spot amid suspended garlands and feature walls.

The café’s owner and creative mastermind Maithem, 28, originally planned to open at the start of October, but due to staff shortages, delivery issues, and a missing head chef, it was repeatedly pushed back.

“It was a hard time for us to be honest with you,” admitted Maithem, “we had to work out what we could do to differentiate, adapt, reinvent,” he said.

Opting for a new business angle, Maithem based the concept of Kaya Kafe on the one thing guaranteeing likes: Instagram.

“That’s when the eureka moment came to me,” said Maithem. Harnessing the power of social media, he belives Kaya Kafe can succeed.

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Festive fundraiser

plott-based charity Oasis Cardiff is hosting a storytelling fundraiser to welcome refugees and asylum seekers on 16 December. With stories of South Welsh culture including the folkloric horse Mari Lywd, proceeds will be used to aid those integrating into Cardiff life.

Bringing Mari’s story alive, the performers will explore how the grey mare continues to exist in South Welsh culture today.

Performer Cath Little explains, “The horse comes knocking on the doors of houses and pubs with her singing companions. Once inside, Mari Lwyd creates chaos and mischief before seeing out the death of the old year and ushering in the new.”

Cath adds, “the supper night will include traditional seasonal Welsh stories and tunes.”

The money raised from the Mari Lwyd storytelling supper night will be used to run activities, training and cookery clubs for those integrating into life within Cardiff and Wales.

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News

Keeping an independent business alive from the eye of the storm ............................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................................................................

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s an entrepreneur, you can never be afraid to gamble. Nicoleta Pana, part owner of Luna’s Vegan Corner, risked the odds when she launched a vegan restaurant just seven months before the pandemic hit.

Nicoleta, 34, discusses how close she came to not making it through. “We almost shut down because we couldn’t cope with the amount of bills,” she sighs, “When we were able to conduct business again, it wasn’t the same and unfortunately it’s still very slow at the moment.”

Humble beginnings The idea for the restaurant came in 2016 when the family became vegan. It took a year for Nicoleta to find the right place, but Luna’s finally landed on Wellfield Road, Roath seven months before the pandemic hit.

Three Welsh lockdowns later, Nicoleta and her two partners are still processing the financial hit to their newly formed business, and cut costs wherever they can. “It affects your mental health because you just don’t know what to do, especially when it’s your only source of income,” she confesses with a frown.

Now, Nicoleta considers the reality of Luna’s future with hesitance. “​​I’m still cautious because I don’t know when we might have a massive flare up and have to shut down again.”

However, unlike other independent businesses, Luna’s has pulled through the Covid-19 crisis. “There are so many vegan places that have shut down,” she says with a frown, “they’ve halved – if not less than halved now, which is really sad.” A witness to the declining success of her peers, Nicoleta maintains a steely resolve not to fail. “I feel a real pressure because we need to prove that we are – as an independent vegan business – truly worth staying open.”

Hollywood silver linings Despite the trials of lockdown, Nicoleta never forgets to attribute Luna’s survival to her loyal customers, and remains bashful about the attention it attracts. “We have quite a few celebrity appearances,” she admits with a blush.

“Teresa Palmer’s children love our arancini – they know the place not as Luna’s Vegan Corner but the arancini place!”

Never forgetting the loyalty of her regular customers, she quickly adds, “We have some really good customers but of course our regulars are just as amazing as our A-list celebrities.”

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A vegan entrepreneur talks about the financial trials of keeping her Café going despite opening seven months before a pandemic

Interview

Hesitant but hopeful Looking back, Nicoleta thanks the one good thing coming out of the pandemic: her time to think. “As an entrepreneur at the beginning, you don’t have time to do anything,” she smiles, “so this has given us a chance to step back and really focus on what we want to do, where we want to be.”

“The one good thing coming out of the pandemic: time to think”

Hesitant but hopeful in the restaurant’s plans to release a vegan cookbook, Nicoleta also aims to launch a personal podcast. “It will be about veganism, but also the financial elements of the business,” she says, before breaking off to recite tips on podcasting for anyone starting out.

Nicoleta is resolute in her future vision for Luna’s Vegan Corner. She says, “It was a little bit touch and go for a while. But, as time progresses, I really think we’re going to do just fine.”

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Against the odds: Why Covid-19 could be one giant leap backwards for gender equality in Wales Working from home has kept the economy alive during the pandemic, but officials worry about the impact on women’s positions within the workplace

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efore the pandemic, the average workday was between seven and eight hours. When lockdown hit, workers were forced to stay at home. In theory, this meant working hours would decrease; with no commute, workers could do what they needed to do and log off as soon as they could.

But for working mothers, this was never the case. When lockdown ruled out external childcare the burden of responsibility fell to them, meaning their workday nearly doubled.

To aid economic recovery, the Welsh Government issued cautious advice to go back into work this autumn. But just because the economy is recovering, it doesn’t mean that working mothers are. In fact, for women with caregiving responsibilities, their position within the workplace remains uncertain causing many to ask the question: are women who work from home being left behind?

In a June 2021 survey conducted by Welsh gender equality charity Chwarae Teg, it concluded that lockdown forced more traditional roles upon women within the home, forcing them to juggle work and childcare.

Cat Charlton, a mother of two and managing director of a self-assisted publishing company, struggled to keep control of her workload when freedoms limited external childcare.

“My only option was to work in the evenings as my husband had to prioritise his job. This meant incredibly long days and impacted negatively on my mental health and that of my husband,” she says.

Living in Cwmbran, the 31-year-old explained that if her job hadn’t offered flexibility, things would have been impossible.

Burden to bear With the threat of the Omicron variant looming, society’s casual acceptance of a childcare system relying heavily on informal, unpaid care often delivered by women is worrying.

Among the 1,000 respondents to Chwarae

Teg’s survey, 72% of working mothers worked fewer hours and cut their earnings due to a lack of childcare. Despite both partners having the same level jobs, it also found the overwhelming assumption that women would take on childcare responsibilities at home.

“My partner and I have similar level jobs and earn the same, but his work and meetings seem to have taken priority which causes resentment and arguments,” admitted a survey respondent.

“My only option was to work in the evenings as my husband had to prioritise his job”

Due to the high level of Covid-19 cases forcing school classes to quarantine, childcare duties are still a burden to bear for Cat. She hopes there will be more put in place to safeguard women’s careers if Wales enters another lockdown.

“A lot of mothers only go back into the workplace when they know they have time for a job as well. If this is taken away from them, it proves incredibly taxing,” she admits.

In a time where recovery is at the forefront, building back a fairer, more equal society has never been more important for gender equality in Wales.

Finding the balance Tomos Evans, Chwarae Teg’s policy & public affairs partner, recognises the importance of this challenge. Explaining that the gender pay gap is expected to get worse this year, he says, “A lot of policy and decision makers talk as if the pandemic has happened, but we still won’t see the impacts for a very long time.”

Working with members of the Senedd, Tomos often reminds officials that Covid-19 guidance compels women to stay at home even after

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Feature

Being torn between work and motherhood often leaves women feeling tied to their homes. Image credit: Unsplash restrictions are lifted.

“If we don’t deal with the consequences of the pandemic in an equitable way, we’re going to find ourselves reinforcing many of the longstanding issues around women’s roles in the home in particular,” he says.

Against the odds The office for national statistics found around two-thirds (67%) of working adults in Great Britain travelled to work between 3 and 14 November 2021.

However, Welsh Government data showed that on 12 November, 3,877 primary age children were off for a known Covid related reason. This figure nearly doubled on 29 November.

In a time where more people are going back into work, Cardiff-born Tomos believes that political awareness is key for women to get back on equal

footing in the workplace. He says, “Although we think if working women are to progress we need to change cultural norms, working from home isn’t necessarily a silver bullet. It cannot be a one size fits all thing.”

Moving forward, he believes a hybrid model of open, agile working may be the best solution.

“It cannot be a one size fits all thing.”

Genderblind

For Welsh women, the effects of the pandemic will be felt long after the final dose of the vaccine.

Despite women being severely impacted by the pandemic, Chwarae Teg reported that UK government policies were repeatedly skewed towards men by ignoring the caring

responsibilities faced by women.

“There must be a change of mindset and Welsh Government must lead by example,” concluded the survey.

In response, a Welsh Government spokesperson said, “While childcare services were restricted in the immediate response, our advancing gender equality in Wales plan sets out the steps needed to advance equality for women and girls.”

For working mothers, these plans can’t come soon enough.

Without the aid of officials, a genderblind reliance on women at their working limit could become a pandemic in itself.

So, while the effects of Covid-19 develop, work begins for those safeguarding working women. Then, and only then, can the workday finally return to normal hours, with the needs of caregivers – both men and women – fairly accounted for.

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