Elmfield Estate launches the first Whole Foods and Wellbeing Market this June

The historic Elmfield Estate on the outskirts of Gilford is to host a whole foods and wellbeing market set in its newly renovated courtyards. Elmfield Market will feature local food producers, natural self-care products, plants and flowers, art, artisan crafts and wellbeing experts.

The first market will take place on Saturday, June 12 from 10am-3pm.

As society and the economy opens up following the pandemic lockdowns of the last 14 months, there has never been so much awareness and conversation about looking after our wellbeing, both on a personal and societal level.

Although the idea of a whole foods and wellbeing market at Elmfield Estate was conceived long before our lives were impacted by Covid-19 Jane Shaw, director of Elmfield Estate and wellbeing educator and practitioner, feels it is particularly relevant now.

Jane advocates the benefits of the whole foods ecosystem, in that eating sustainable and local wholefoods results in not only a nutritionally enriched diet which supports our physical and emotional wellbeing but also reminds us of the importance of our food origin.

She explaind: “Elmfield Market is a celebration of local whole foods, homegrown produce and artisan producers who take pride and care in their trade. It will be an immersive experience for visitors to the market, who can participate in wellbeing workshops, enjoy a walking tour of the gardens or relax over a coffee with friends in the cobbled courtyard. We hope that when you leave you feel that you have treated yourself to a few hours of well-deserved me-time.”

Set in beautiful, landscaped parkland and gardens, Elmfield Estate is an historic estate situated by the banks of the river Bann, comprising a Scottish Baronial style house and 18th century courtyards.

Jane’s parents, Derek and Ann Shaw rescued the estate from near dereliction after many years of neglect. They bought it in 1958 and spent the following decades restoring the house, gardens and farmland. The wholefood market makes for a perfect blend of Derek’s passion for sustainable produce with his local and international farming and agribusiness experience, with Jane’s diversification from farming to wellbeing. Derek and Ann are still very much involved in the running of the estate and its business, including supporting Jane as the driving force in renovating the estate’s courtyards which has involved sensitively converting the courtyard buildings into high tech interactive event spaces whilst retaining the integrity of their heritage.

Elmfield Market is an ideal location for a whole foods and wellbeing market with a wealth of Food Heartland producers on its doorstep, a collective of which will be joined by equally passionate producers from around Northern Ireland and border counties. There will be familiar names such as the multi-award-winning Yellow Door and Ballylisk of Armagh, as well as relative newcomers, Ard Mhacha Shiitake Mushrooms, Microgreenway, The Curious Farmer, Green Fingers Family.

These food producers will be joined by creators and makers of natural, organic self-care such as Mrs Rganics and sustainable living products and artisan crafts makers including The Bearded Candle Makers and Wee Beasties Design, in the estate’s heritage courtyards.

Wellbeing workshops will be running alongside the market in the beautifully renovated Old Stables building, with a diverse programme planned for the coming months. On Saturday, June 12, there are two bookable workshops running: ‘Art for the Senses’ with Geralyn Mulqueen, which is an art workshop that will take you through a series of creative practices to support your health and wellbeing and ‘Yoga with Sayon’ which will be a 45-minute fun all-level Hatha yoga class led by Sayon Cheung Mulligan.

There is now a public conversation around mental health, which is enabling more people to talk about their wellbeing and health. The anxiety and isolation most of us have felt during the last 14 months has probably assisted in some way as people are meeting up again and the conversation turns to how they have coped and are feeling. However, there is still a mountain to climb in the national conversation around wellbeing and mental health and access to services. By welcoming people to Elmfield for its new whole foods and wellbeing market and the connected workshops that will run alongside, Elmfield Market hopes to introduce people to a new perspective on holistic health. The workshops are an introduction to the wider programme of courses and retreats that run at Elmfield throughout the year, as explained by Jane Shaw,

“My ambition in creating Elmfield Market with whole foods and wellbeing at its foundation, is that we create an experience which will more fully realise the ethos of Elmfield as a place of community and natural wellbeing. As well as the programmed workshops, visitors can indulge in mini taster wellbeing experiences taking place around the estate with our expert team. They are designed to be fun and stress relieving, giving you a break from your everyday pressures.”

Elmfield Market will take place on Saturday, June 12, 10am-3pm and the second Saturday of every month thereafter.

For full details, go to the Elmfield Estate website and follow on its social media channels @Elmfield_Estate.

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