25/09/2020
Hello Everyone,
I hope you are all keeping well.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the Reach centres are continuing to offer an Alternative Delivery Service to our clients. Southwell, Newark, and Mansfield centres continue to offer clients zoom sessions, socially distanced walks, and work packs, whilst Flower Pod Southwell and Flower Pod Newark (based at Eton Avenue) are offering zoom sessions and a reduced service on site.
Extra measures are in place to keep our clients, volunteers, and staff well. All activities comply with the latest government Covid-19 regulations and are closely monitored.
During lock down Reach has received funding from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, distributed by The National Lottery Fund, which is enabling us to provide supportive therapeutic activities to promote positive, emotional wellbeing.
Flower Pod Southwell had a go a topiary and made this amazing Reindeer !!!
As part of the Alternative Delivery Service Reach Mansfield received some great postcards from clients showing what they’d been up to or enjoyed most about coming to Reach.
Volunteer Action Week 12-17 October – can you help?
Flower Pod Southwell will be closed to clients during the week beginning October 12th. This is to give us a chance to prepare the site for the next phase in our alternative client service during the pandemic. It will also allow us to get as many of you wonderful volunteers as we can into the garden to start THE BIG RESCUE MISSION. There is lots to do to get things back to a manageable state and Autumn is the perfect time to do it. So if you would like to lend a hand and have a day or two free that week, please let Sam know (sam.ward@reachuk.org). If you are already coming for a morning or afternoon slot and would just like to stay for longer, that would be great. The hope is that we can form groups of 4 or 5 volunteers each day, who will work in a (socially distanced but still super-powered) team to tackle some of the bigger jobs like lifting and dividing plants, path renovation, tidying the site etc.
Say hello to Rory
Flower Pod is hosting a student from Nottingham Trent University who is doing a work placement with us. Some of you have met Rory already. But he has been working (mainly) from home until now to reduce the amount of people on site. But you might bump into him when you’re here next as he’s going to be on site more from now on. He’s a horticulture student, interested in getting into community gardening and therapeutic horticulture, so he’s keen to meet as many of you as possible and get to know how we do things here.
Apples for bottles!
We’re hoping to juice our lovely Bramley apples over the next few weeks, with help from Christine (who is managing Flower Pod Newark) and any fruit that won’t store (because it’s bruised etc.) is available for you to take. In exchange we need bottles – either plastic or glass, so if you have any to spare, please don’t put them in your recycling bin – please bring them to either Flower Pod or the Southwell office instead which will allow us to pasteurise and store the apple juice in them.
Seeds for sale
A few people asked about getting seeds from our poppies. We’ve harvested lots (as well as various other flowers) and these are available from Flower Pod Southwell. If anyone would like to have please contact Flower Pod Southwell (we would suggest a donation of £1 per packet).
Quirky Quiz returns (virtually)
It’s that time of year again – the funniest fundraiser in the Flower Pod calendar will happen on Friday 23rd October at 7-9:30pm. It will be via Zoom – but will be packed with all the usual silliness, competitiveness, and… wigs. For more details and to book your place, go to https://dev.reachuk.org/fundraising/quirky-quiz-oct-2020/.
Finally
If anyone is interested in helping maintain the gardens at Flower Pod Southwell or Newark or helping out at the Southwell office garden, please let me know your availability and I will provide you with all the details.
Take care and best wishes to you and yours
Wayne
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