The Findhorn Foundation has town criers to keep residents of The Park informed and entertained
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"OYEZ, oyez, oyez!"
Two members of a spiritual community have assumed the role of town criers near a local village during the coronavirus lockdown.
Every Tuesday and Friday, after ringing a bell, theatre director and acting coach Laura Pasetti, and creative artist Annie Crawford, shout the news and update residents with volunteering information at The Park on the Findhorn Foundation.
Laura said: "New Findhorn Association (NFA) listener convenor Lorraine Rytz came up with the idea to engage people who are not online or particularly familiar with the internet to bring updates. It also keeps up morale by bringing a smile and a brief moment of entertainment to all."
Laura and Annie wear colourful hats and jackets, and travel around the site on bicycles decorated with flowers and ribbons, stopping in each block to deliver messages.
"We deliver the message 11 times in an hour-and-a-half so we have experimented using megaphones so that we can keep our voice until the end! We also deliver messages from one neighbourhood to the other - the last time, two kids from one area sent a message to two kids of another through us!
"I have been videoed sending greetings to a granny who was far away and we also sang Happy Birthday to someone celebrating her 80th birthday."
The messages also include information about local shops accepting orders over the phone and doing home delivery.
The finales are usually short sketches or songs like 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious', 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Yellow Submarine'.
"We adapt the lyrics to the current situation," said Laura, "and have fun singing about washing our hands, keeping to social distancing, etc. The last time we wrote the chorus on a big piece of cardboard and people joined in from their windows.
"Everybody is happy to see us. Some wave from their windows or raise a glass or throw us flowers but they all thank us at the end."
The NFA is an umbrella organisation of the Findhorn Foundation that seeks to "build community, raise consciousness and co-create a brighter future." They set up a volunteering action group to gather and coordinate volunteers as a response to the Covid-19 crisis.
Laura said: "We put in place a network of neighbourhood representatives for each area of The Park, to communicate quickly and effectively, and encourage neighbours to self-organise. NFA member Maria created a system for volunteers to sign up, allow us to meet requests of help.
"Everyday we also have volunteers on call in case there is an urgent request."
She finished: "There is something special about being part of a community - we know the value of supporting each other. If there is one positive thing that this virus is bringing is the fact that we are re-discovering the beauty of humanity and the importance of friendship.
"This situation is healing our collective heart."
