Thanks to the generosity of Stanway Garden Centre , everyone at CENS had another glorious morning gardening
CENS is open all day Saturday, which means it can be quiet first thing while the residents take their time to come down and have breakfast. But when news that donations from the Stanway Garden Centre were on the way everyone jumped at the chance to get involved. And soon the garden was a hive of activity with some old residents dropping by to lend a hand.
Gardening team
The Big Garden Makeover was a great success last week with the residents weeding, planting shrubs and having a general tidy. So trustee Emily wanted to continue the momentum. She reached out to Stanway Garden Centre to see if they would kindly donate a few flowers. Not only did they send hollyhocks, helleborus, alpino early whites, acer and penstemon husker red, but the residents now have a set of top-of-the range gardening tools as well.
It was great to see everyone at CENS working together to decide where the plants should go. Stopping and chatting for tea breaks and enjoying the sunshine made the whole project feel like a team effort.
Life-affirming activity
Being homeless can take away any sense of purpose and make life seem very bleak. So it’s our vision for the residents at CENS to be responsible for the garden. Often we find that the service users thrive when they have something to do. And with the residents having such little control over what happens to them, we hope that taking ownership of the outdoor space, maintaining it and watching it grow will be a much-needed mood boost this summer.
