Happy International Women’s Day -Celebrating the Amazing Women of The Dispensary
This International Women's Day, we’re celebrating some of the amazing women who make up the team at The Dispensary, making it a place where everyone in the community feels welcome, and is able to buy good food, & natural health products, but also to join groups, attend talks & workshops and meet with each other socially. Thank you to our wonderful women for helping to make this happen!
Meet the Women!
Zoe
Zoe is our wonderful manager at The Dispensary; she likes meeting and chatting to the customers. She also loves finding products that may help customers and getting positive feedback from them when they return.
Zoe is also a yoga teacher, teaching weekly classes at Fylingthorpe, and is a trained aromatherapist. She is also Mum to Orla, a gorgeous rescue greyhound, who has melted many hearts, and often accompanies Zoe to work, relaxing in a nearby room. Happy 10th birthday to Orla for tomorrow, 9th March!
Alice
When Alice lived in Germany, she was spoilt for choice when it came to organic food. Moving back to Whitby, she was relieved and delighted to discover The Dispensary, with its real bread and organic fruit and vegetables. It quickly became her favourite shop — so when a part-time role became available there, she jumped at the chance.
Nature’s Laboratory supports The Dispensary as a community health initiative, and when they needed someone to help there with sales, Alice started there on a part-time basis in addition to her work at The Dispensary. At Nature’s Laboratory Alice works in sales and is also part of the team dispatching BeeVital products and helping to make Sweet Cecily’s lip balm kits. She says that she likes the small team atmosphere in both Nature’s Laboratory and the Dispensary; looking out for each other and helping each other out.
Her interest in natural health began early. As a child she struggled with asthma that nothing seemed to shift — until a visit to a homeopath cleared it. Since then, she has had a lifelong interest in natural medicine, including homeopathy, herbal medicine and propolis, the remarkable substance made by honeybees that supports both bee and human health.
Outside work, Alice loves gardening, wildlife and spending time outdoors. She plants for pollinators, enjoys walking and proudly admits she’s “a bit of a bird geek.” When she can, she volunteers at Whitby Walled Garden, a beautiful project combining wildlife and wellbeing. At home she also loves cooking and sharing good food.
Lucy
Lucy is a director of Common Cause, which runs The Dispensary and The Reading Room, helping organise community groups and events at both venues. She is also Community Communications Director at Nature’s Laboratory, which supports The Dispensary in many ways.
She feels deeply passionate about natural medicine and believes strongly in the healing power of plants. One of her favourite quotes is by William Wordsworth:
“Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.”
Lucy is a passionate advocate of Veganuary, promoting plant-based living, and runs Whitby Compassionate Food, the local support group for Compassion in World Farming, which campaigns globally to end cruel factory farming and promote regenerative farming. She also supports Crustacean Compassion, which works tirelessly to improve the welfare of crabs, lobsters, langoustines (scampi) and other decapod crustaceans, sentient creatures which are frequently treated and killed in inhumane ways.
Lucy says “I love nature and all animals and feel very blessed to share my life with some wonderful humans and animals! In my personal life I love singing as part of an informal group and I am also a screenwriter, which is another of my passions. I am very lucky to be involved with running The Dispensary with a wonderful team and also to work with a great, supportive team at Nature’s Laboratory. I am privileged to work with amazing women in both The Dispensary, and Nature’s Laboratory, and want to help shine a light on their lives and achievements.”
Bernadette
Bernadette and her husband Andy became involved in The Dispensary last year, and have brought a great deal of love and laughter to everything they host, from soup and sourdough lunches, to beer tastings, to hive nights, to book group! Bernadette tells us below about her love for The Dispensary:
“I love everything about The Dispensary. So, when I got the opportunity to be involved, I was absolutely delighted.
I love the smell when you walk in, I love the things it sells (especially the propolis soap and toothpaste! – oh and of course, the sourdough bread) …but most importantly, I love the amazing people I have met.
The Hive Nights started last year (they will be back soon!), these nights are the opportunity for people to come together and socialise whilst maybe reading poetry, being fiercely competitive playing games, sharing food but most importantly, socialising and learning the chapters of each other’s lives as we spend time together.
Christmas morning was so lovely; a drop in for a couple of hours. Mince pies and a bottle of sherry; all vanished quickly!
Book Club has just started - and again, it’s just pure joy. We are fairly new, only on our third book but the joy and laughter it has brought so far has been wonderful. We meet probably about every 6 weeks and again, it’s an honour to listen to people’s own experience of reading a book and how it may differ.
At the moment, we are holding soup and sourdough sessions. Home-made vegan and gluten free soup served between 11:30 – 1 on a Wednesday.
There have been tea tastings, beer tastings and honey tastings and all bringing fun and joy to anyone who wants to join in.
Bringing people together to share food is such an important thing for me to do.
Bringing people together is so important for all of us.
Feeding souls and tummies.
Joy.”
Maria
Maria is a warm and welcoming presence at The Dispensary, often filling in, at short notice, when other team members are unable to come to work. Maria is also a talented artist, and sells her cards, books, jewellery and other craft items in the shop.
Maria tells us about her connection with The Dispensary… “I often cover at the Dispensary when needed and always enjoy my time there. I’ve come to know many of the regulars, whom I truly enjoy serving, and I often have wonderful connections and conversations with newcomers (when it’s not too busy, of course 🙂).
I welcome the opportunity to be of service on those days, to support others and to shine my little light. On the way there, I repeat a small mantra to set the tone for the day:
“Everyone I meet warms to me instantly.
They see my light, and I see theirs.”
When I reflect afterwards, I’m always pleasantly surprised by how beautifully the interactions unfold.
Alongside working behind the counter, I also have a cabinet in the window displaying my handmade copper jewellery, as well as a rack of my solar festival greeting cards and booklets. I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to have my creations available there.
Overall, James and Lucy, with the care and help of Zoe, Alice, Bernadette and Andy, have created an ever-growing space where the community can gather for workshops and events, as well as find healthy foods, natural medicines, and goods that nourish and sustain. The Dispensary is a wonderfully progressive and welcoming space.”
Celebrating women, real health, and the power of coming together!
As we mark International Women's Day, we’d like to celebrate the wonderful women who help make The Dispensary such a special place.
Through their warmth, compassion and commitment to wellbeing, they help create a space where people feel welcome, supported and connected. Together they nurture not only health, but also community and a true sense of belonging.
This International Women's Day, we celebrate and thank them, and all the inspiring women who help our community thrive.