We recently joined St Mungo’s at a women’s only accommodation service to transform the garden ready for a summer BBQ, and the residents to enjoy.
Thanks to our partnership with St Mungo’s, we recently sent some volunteers to a London service for a day of gardening.
With the aim of creating an enjoyable garden ready for the summer months, we spent the day clearing up the overgrown plants and any debris to transform this into a green space that the clients can relax in. We began by selecting our tool of choice so that we could spread out and start clearing the area. We used spades, shears, secateurs, trowels and rakes to cut back the trees, pull up weeds and tidy the earth.
In the morning, we cleared away the majority of the overgrown plants and trees on the lawn and patio. We quicky discovered that the garden has plenty of potential, with lots of light pouring onto the lawn.
Once complete, we could see which spots got the most sunlight and where herbs, plants and flowers might flourish.
This activity required quite a bit of physical work for our volunteers but so rewarding as the space soon displayed its potential. We added a few final touches to make the garden more attractive, finding pots to plant our seeds in and placing them around the garden in different spots. These included herbs like Rosemary and Thyme and flowers like Jasmine to add some colour and a floral scent.
We also discovered a log burner and wooden table underneath some of the debris which we cleaned up for the BBQ, as well as some glass vases, hanging baskets and decorative pieces that we could place around.
The Result
This was such a rewarding day and we were so pleased to have been invited to join this volunteering opportunity. Gardening for St Mungo’s provides a huge benefit to their services and allows big tasks to be tackled by the volunteers’ group effort.
We hope that the clients can make the most of this garden now and that it provides a space for for relaxing, socialising and enjoying the flowers and nature it has to offer.
“You did a brilliant job of clearing the garden and transforming the space for clients to enjoy this summer. Volunteering days … allow bigger pieces of work to be done, which would take one staff member a really long time! I know the service were extremely grateful for you taking the time to volunteer with us!” – Lucy Cowham, Corporate Partnerships Executive for St Mungo’s
As part of our Better Places strategy we proactively look for ways to give back to our local communities. Having worked with St Mungo’s since 2018 on a variety of projects, we’ve seen the impact these projects can have. Our partnership with St Mungo’s opens up many more opportunities for us to deliver meaning social value to our communities and we’re so excited to make a real difference together.
Thank you to St Mungo’s and all our volunteers for making this day such a success!
