A team of volunteers has returned to a support home in Liss for a third year to help them tidy up their overgrown garden.
Twelve people from our IT Project Delivery Team recently visited Whitegates View Fitzroy Support Home in Liss for the day as part of our Community Action Programme. The scheme gives our 4,000 people a day of company time each year to volunteer and help an organisation or charity of their choice.
After an initial damp start, the team got to work on a range of gardening tasks including removing weeds and a wasp nest from flower beds as well as strimming to make a path through the wilder area at the bottom of the garden. As the sun began to shine, they were also able to repaint the log cabin and fences, jet wash the patio and paths, as well as repair the shed’s roof and replace broken windows to allow for the contents to be stored safely.
The home is made up of four residential units where adults with severe learning difficulties can live with support in small households. They share a communal garden which had been getting progressively more overgrown since our visit last year, with the spring weather having helped the weeds to become well-established.
Mandy Lashbrook, Service Manager at Whitegates View Fitzroy Support Home, said: “As a charity, we rely on the generosity of volunteers and we were more than happy to welcome the team from SGN back to the home. It’s been remarkable what they were able to achieve in just one day and it’s going to make a huge difference to the people we support.”
Hayley Randall, Cyber Operational Technology Programme Manager, said: “When we learned how the overrun the garden had become, we all agreed that we had to get back to the home and help them out. There was a real sense of team spirit and collaboration, with everyone mucking in and playing their part. After the eight hours we put in, the garden was ready for the home’s next summer party – we were very tired after the hard work we put in but very satisfied and happy to have been able to help.”
