Sights set high for wild garden project
Brandon’s day centre in Nailsea, North Somerset, offers people with learning disabilities and autism a wide range of art and craft groups, based on their personal interests. Tommy, who attends the day centre, got in touch to tell us about a garden transformation project that is very important to him.
Hi. I'm Tommy. I’ve been involved with the gardening group for a couple of years. I’m green-fingered and have my own veg plot at home. I enjoy being outdoors and it’s great when we can do our craft sessions in the garden at Scotch Horn.
We really want to make the space better so that more people can get to enjoy it. To do this, we are trying to raise money for a new decked area and wild garden.
Creative fundraising
As well as being good with plants, I also like drawing and painting. I decided to combine my skills to design and hand paint plant pots, before planting bulbs in each one.
My favourite bulbs are hyacinth and daffodil, but I let people choose what they would like. I also paint using the colour the customer wants, but I create my own designs. So far, I have raised £120 selling my plants pots to my family and friends.
Before the virus, I was part of the woodwork group. One thing we make is recycled Christmas trees – some we paint and some we leave in plain natural wood. Right now, we can’t do woodwork at the centre, so one of my relatives is making the trees at home and I’ve been selling them to add to the garden fund.
We’d like to be able to make things like bird boxes, bird tables, and bat boxes, outdoors. It would be very nice if we could do this in a garden with lots of wildlife around.
High praise
Support worker, Damian, has high praise for Tommy’s hard work and enthusiasm.
“Tommy is playing a big part in the redevelopment of the back garden here at Scotch Horn. We’re attempting to raise £6,000 for an accessible decking area to increase the capacity of the garden for art and craft sessions.
“Tommy is a dab hand with an artist’s brush. He’s using all his creativity to help us reach a big target. Not only is he raising money for the project, he’s also keeping us all motivated. He continues to come up with new ideas and we can’t thank him enough for his efforts.”
Making the dream a reality
If you’d like to order one of Tommy’s decorated plant pots (£10 each) or a recycled Christmas tree (£20), or think you or your organisation could help in a different way, please call Tommy and Damian on 07493 867 131, or email damian.naylor@brandontrust.org.
