Art of Gathering
The Art of Gathering — Summer Morning
A calm, creative outdoor morning for parents and children, serving barista coffee, communal yoga, flower crafts, and a shared painting at the heart of the day whilst receiving a talk on why the past lives in your body and what you can do about it.
Come for connection, stay for a picnic and leave with flowers and a piece of art (and the feeling that you’ve actually arrived)
Date & Time
Wednesday 19th August 2025 | 10:30am – 01:30pm
Location
Duda Coffee Roasters, The Old Stables, Caldwell’s Gate, Crowley, Cheshire CW9 6NX
A summer morning at Duda Coffee Roasters in Arley, adults outdoor floral communal painting at a long shared table, specialist children's yoga and crafts and flower arranging in the woodland garden, homemade cake, hand tied seasonal flowers to take home, and seriously good coffee.
Maximum 12 adults. Numbers strictly limited.
Duda Coffee Roasters sits at the end of a country lane in Arley, a working roastery housed in converted stables, surrounded by a small woodland garden, a pond, and fields stretching as far as you can see in every direction. It feels like somewhere the rest of the world hasn't found yet.
Come alone or bring your children. Both are equally welcome here.
The Morning
☕ A refreshing welcome drink on arrival. James — who spent twelve years in Brazil before returning to Cheshire to build Duda Coffee Roasters will take you on a short tour of the roastery before the morning begins.
🌿 A welcome ceremony in the field with freshly roasted coffee by James, a shared breath, a word each around the circle, and then we begin. Unhurried, intentional, and the moment the morning properly starts.
🧘 Communal yoga in the field for adults and children together, led by Becky from Realigned Yoga, accessible to every body, every age, every ability. Light hearted, grounding, and the best possible way to arrive before picking up a brush.
🎨 Communal painting at the long table led by local artist & host Steph — one continuous roll of paper, watercolour and oil pastels, with Maggie’s seasonal flowers laid along the table as your reference. Everyone works into the same piece. No boundaries, no separate canvases. Research consistently shows that making something genuinely together creates a quality of connection that bypasses the usual social rituals entirely. The point is not the painting. It is what happens to people while they are making it.
🌳 Children’s floral woodland crafts and painting in the garden, their own long roll of paper, their own colours, entirely theirs
⚽ Not every child fancies yoga — and that’s absolutely fine. There are football nets, swing ball, and plenty of outdoor games for children who’d rather run. The garden is theirs for the morning.
🍰 Homemade cake from Maggie throughout the morning.
🌸 Whilst painting receive a talk from Mischa at The Soul School Cheshire on why the past lives in your body — family constellation work, ancestral healing, and breaking cycles passed down through generations. She speaks while you paint, which means you receive something meaningful in one of the most open and receptive states a person can be in. (Sounds woo woo but actually loads of science behind it)
✨ Optional free 30-minute breakaway 1:1 sessions with Mischa during painting — a chance to experience kinesiology firsthand in a gentle, private taster. Register interest via email before the day.
✂️ The communal piece is carefully cut — everyone takes their section home along with a hand tied stem bundle of the morning’s seasonal flowers, arranged by Maggie.
🌺 Closing ceremony
🧺 Bring a picnic if you’d like to stay in the field afterwards
I recommend taking your painting to Lorraine at Framing Cheshire in Northwich — a bespoke framer and fellow artist who works only with conservation grade materials. It would look rather good on a wall.
Lorraine Blundell
Lorraine@framingcheshire.co.uk
Ticket Types
— Adult — £49
— Child aged 3 and over — £12
— Child under 3 — Free (please add a free ticket so we know numbers on the day)
🌧️ Should the Great British summer make itself known, adults retreat inside the roastery — which smells of freshly roasted Brazilian coffee and is, honestly, equally lovely. The children stay outside. They are young, they are waterproof, and they will not notice. Come dressed accordingly.
YOUR HOSTS
Steph — Stephanie Claire Art
Steph is a full-time abstract mixed-media artist whose work has been featured in House & Garden Magazine and collected internationally. She is also a qualified person-centred counsellor, and it is this combination of creative practice and deep understanding of how people work that sits at the heart of The Art of Gathering. She created this morning, and she will be at the painting table with you throughout.
Becky — Realigned Yoga & Music Box Meditations
Becky is a yoga teacher at HotPod Yoga and certified practitioner with Music Box Meditations — the North West’s pioneering specialist children’s yoga company. She leads the welcome ceremony, the communal yoga, and the children’s outdoor session.
Mischa — The Soul School Cheshire
Mischa Haddow is an Integrative Therapist and Professional Kinesiologist who founded The Soul School to empower mothers and women to heal themselves and create lasting change for future generations. Her 30-minute 1:1 taster sessions are available during the painting session, register interest before the day.
Maggie — Maggie’s Flowers
Maggie is a florist and flower grower whose seasonal stems sit on the painting table as your reference and go home with you as a hand tied bundle. She also brings homemade cake and her grandchildren, which tells you everything you need to know.
James — Duda Coffee Roasters
James built Duda after twelve years in Brazil. He makes the coffee, gives the tour, and is the reason this morning feels like somewhere rather than just somewhere to be.
⚠ SAFETY DISCLAIMER — PLEASE READ BEFORE BOOKING
This event takes place in a natural outdoor setting at Duda Coffee Roasters which includes an ornamental pond and uneven ground. Water presents a serious risk to young children. All children remain the sole responsibility of their parent or guardian at all times throughout the session — including during the children's outdoor session with Becky.
This is not a drop-off activity. Parents must remain on the premises at all times. Please ensure your child does not approach the pond or any water feature unsupervised at any time.
Please dress yourself and your children for an outdoor morning — layers, comfortable shoes, and a waterproof for little ones. Full safety terms and conditions are provided at checkout and must be agreed before your booking is confirmed.
Location
Duda Coffee Roastery, CW9 6NX