Allotment For All Christmas Gift

[betula]

Thrive Battersea Garden Project

The need of disabled Londoners is great and Thrive has been helping for over 25 years. However, our facilities in Battersea Park urgently need updating so we can work and improve the lives of more disabled people.

Today, our Battersea Garden Project operates from a modest Portakabin and a series of huts and sheds, which are not, in truth, suitable to meet the differing needs of our disabled gardeners.

 
We have ambitious plans, which have been approved on paper and are shown in the image on the right, for a modest but permanent building which can be used flexibly to accommodate large and small groups. We will have new training rooms, accessible facilities, a modern 45sqm orangery to provide growing space and refurbished gardens.

These new facilities will allow us to help more disabled Londoners and we particularly want to:

• offer 16 to18 year olds, who have a range of special needs and are at risk of committing a crime or truanting, the opportunity to gain qualifications and improve their physical and psychological health.

• expand our programmes for stroke survivors and help more people in the early stages of dementia to use gardening to reconnect with friends and family.

• work in partnership with local business to offer disabled people an accessible work experience and training programme and the first steps towards employment.

Please help us to turn our plans into reality and contact us if you can help in any way.

We urgently need additional funds and donations big and small will be gratefully received. This is how your money could help:

£30 could buy 100 bricks for our new building
£50 could buy a kitchen unit
£75 could buy a seat for the orangery
£150 could pay for one day with a horticultural therapist


These stories are taken from thrive's website.

[betula]

http://www.justgiving.com/betulasgoodidea

[betula]

    Bump 

[caroline7758]

Betula, you do know that talkingtoyourself is the firstsign of madness? But well done for keeping this at the top!

[tomatoada]

I give to certain charities every year.   At Christmas I give to the NSPCA and they send letters to my young friends from Father Christmas.  So sorry but please I can't help but best wishes.

[daveyboi]

Still at a respecatable £140 hope we can reach £200 by Christmas

[betula]

That would be good daveyboi   

Enjoyed looking at your blog   

[daveyboi]

Thanks for visiting my blog Betula (in other words bump lols)

[asbean]

Still at a respecatable £140 hope we can reach £200 by Christmas

Be good if we could.  Here's the link again in case anyone missed it:

http://www.justgiving.com/betulasgoodidea

[daveyboi]

Looks like this has stuck now at the £140

Well done everyone and maybe we could do something similar next year.

Nice to see a forum these days where there is a real community spirit.

[caroline7758]

Yes, maybe we should close this now. Don't want people to feel pressurised.

[betula]

With respect Caroline nobody is pressurising anyone and it is a Christmas gift and we are a long way from that yet.

[asbean]

Some people may be waiting until nearer Christmas - after all, it isn't December yet 

[OllieC]

All been quiet here for a while...

[Flighty]

As promised I've just donated another £10 

That takes the total to just over £195 (£160 + £35-26 GiftAid)

http://www.justgiving.com/betulasgoodidea

[shirlton]

That a good amount isn't it Flighty.

[Flighty]

Shirl yes it is indeed! 

As Thrive  is my good cause I'm truly grateful to everyone who has donated, and I know that they really do appreciate what we've done. 

http://www.justgiving.com/betulasgoodidea

[betula]

Thank you 

[1066]

Well done to Betula for organising this and for Flighty for suggesting such a great cause and his extra tenner   

[Flighty]

The total, including GiftAid, is now just over £200! 

http://www.justgiving.com/betulasgoodidea