Public generosity helps rebuild gardens at Bells Piece

Vandals destroy a year's worth of harvest grown by disabled people, but public generosity gets garden back on track

Farnham charity Bells Piece is thanking its generous supporters who rallied together to restore much loved gardens targeted by vandals.

Last month the attack at Bells Piece, a care home and activities centre run by Leonard Cheshire, destroyed a year’s worth of harvest. It was lovingly nurtured and planted by a group of disabled people who are part of the horticultural project.

In response, the charity launched an appeal calling for people to help fix the damage to the gardens. Since then hundreds of kind hearted well-wishers have taken to Twitter and Facebook to condemn what has happened, share the story and encourage donations.

This overwhelming public response has enabled Bells Piece to go above and beyond the initial plea to replace plants and improve security. People’s generosity now means a new watering system can also be put in place.

This will help disabled people to cultivate their crops, plant more fruit trees to make jam and improve the landscape.

Karen Barron, service manager at Bells Piece, said: “We are overwhelmed and truly humbled by the generosity of supporters who have helped us to begin the restoration of our precious gardens.

“We have had friends in Farnham popping by with armfuls of runner beans, rhubarb, flowers as well as online donations towards our project from kind people across the country which is incredible. It will improve security and help us to sleep at night without worrying about vandals destroying the gardens again.

“The support from the public is already making a huge difference and put a smile back on our faces again. Thank you all for your lovely messages, offers of help and generous donations.

“If anyone is interested in supporting us in the future for other activities and events, we are always looking for volunteers and donations. Please visit our website to find out more or call Bells Piece on 01252 715138.”

Bells Piece would like supporters to stay in touch so they hear more about the fantastic work through the ‘Seed to Plate’ project by visiting leonardcheshire.org/bellspiece. Seed to Plate is a life changing initiative that enables disabled people to grow, choose, prepare and cook nutritional, tasty meals for a healthier life and support their journey towards greater independence. To see the difference the project makes visit: youtube.com/watch?v=tvCZauwosX0. To donate, text SEED14 (followed by the amount e.g. SEED14 £3) to 70070 or visit justgiving.com/bellspiece