My free-range hen party
Dec 19th, 2007 by Jenny
The greenest way to have a hen party would be, well… not to have one at all.
But I really love to go out with my girlfriends and I really want to have one! So I have decided to do it, but with as little negative impact on the environment as possible.
With a bit of creative thinking, maybe my free-range hens and I can even have some sort of positive impact…
My hen party is not a whole weekend. It involves no aeroplanes, long-distance car journeys, over-packaged food or fairy outfits and toys that we will chuck away straight afterwards. No pubs with patio heaters. It’s a good cheap knees-up with a special creative twist, and I’ve found the perfect ethical place to hold it.
At www.risc.org.uk you will see my hen party venue. It has big rooms for hire, a cave-like café-bar and a BAFTS accredited Fairtrade shop. Lots of local charities hold their meetings here, as well as local yoga groups, salsa clubs and other organisations. The local food co-operative www.truefood.coop holds their markets there too.
It’s very local to me and to most of my friends, and is also close to both bus stops and a train station. So hopefully there won’t be too many fuel-heavy journeys.
I have booked a room for a jewellery-making workshop from my friends Lucie and Jo. These two trained jewellery makers will be showing the other hens and I how to make floating bead jewellery, charm bracelets and funky earrings. We will all have a chance to try out some beading techniques, and come away with something we’ve made that we can keep and wear.
I think it will be fun to have something creative to do, and with a bit of music and a few drinks the workshop could be a really good party to celebrate all things girly.
Then when we’ve made some nice sparkly things, we can go downstairs to the centre’s Global café for drinks and dinner. As we are a big party, we have been offered Global’s Ethiopian buffet for our dinner. This gives us a selection of casserole type dishes, some meaty and some vegetarian, with rice and Injera, an Ethiopian flat bread. Those that are not keen to try Ethiopian food can order from the normal menu which is stuff like baguettes, baked potatoes, falafels, soup, and other café staples. There are wines and beers from around the world and lots of organic ciders!
The food at Global is tasty and also ethical. Wherever they can they use organic, GM-free and local food, and for things that come from tropical countries they usually manage to find a Fairtrade version. They play all sorts of music from around the world and light all the tables with funky candles. It’s a lovely place, and it’s nice to know we’ll be putting our hen party cash into a business with really ethical aims. This will hopefully also appeal to everyone.
It can be difficult to create a hen party that is right for all your different hens. But this does not take a whole weekend out of anyone’s calendar or too much cash from our wallets. The jewellery and the dinner will probably come to about £15 for each of us, so even the penniless students in my hen coop should be able to afford it. Also jewellery is something that we can all do no matter how old or young we are!
My first job is to source the beads, wire and tools for the jewellery. I have posted a ‘wanted’ notice on Freecycle, but if I can’t find anybody willing to lend them or throwing them out, I will buy the bits online. If there is any material left afterwards I will give it to Lucie and Jo, or offer it on Freecycle… or maybe even take up bead jewellery myself! Who knows…?