A summer term of fun!
We were delighted to host multiple school trips during the summer term. As well as two separate groups from Highfields South Farnham we also had children from Pottersgate School. The groups played games around the fire circle, created bunting, built rafts then raced them in the pond, carried out a treasure hunt, played hide & seek and ended their day making fruit skewers. We end the newsletter with reflections from the children but the staff shared their thoughts as well.
'Highfield South Farnham primary school has been coming to space2grow with our pupils for several years now. The staff are exceptional – the children love working with them as they are so friendly, enthusiastic and inspiring. The activities are always varied and fantastic fun for the children. space2grow is always a firm favourite with the children; they are always sad to leave.'
floral artistry
The teens from Weydon and Farnham Heath End had an artistic and floral time in the garden. The children got to enjoy hapa-zome. Hapa-zome is a Japanese term meaning 'leaf-dye', a printmaking technique that uses the natural pigments in leaves and flowers to produce beautiful prints. The sessions in the garden have been incredibly welcomed by students and staff alike, allowing a natural relaxing learning environment with bonus therapy dogs!
community project success
As well as building the new gardeners tool shed and a new bridge at space2grow, the Men in Sheds team have been working on a particularly large project which was completed last week. They created some much needed HUGE sports equipment storage cupboards for local charity post19 They did a great job and the Post19 staff said 'Huge thankyou to Ken & the space2grow Farnham Team! Thanks to their time, effort, and community spirit, we now have fantastic new sports cupboards ready to go!
Their volunteer work has made a real difference, helping us keep our equipment organised and our sessions running smoothly — and all done with big smiles and a big heart. Thank you for supporting our mission and going the extra mile for our young adults. You’ve helped make our space even better!'
wildflower appreciation
The gardeners have been incredibly busy creating interactive elements in the garden for the children, adding signs and new features of interest. We also had Surrey Wildlife Trust come to lead a wildflower identification session to help us understand a little more about the diversity in the garden. On top of the usual garden jobs we were visited by the Judges from S&SEiB . This year we have also entered into the environmental challenge, fingers crossed. Under Susie's guidance new insect friendly habitats have been introduced and watering friendly planting is taking place. We also have our fingers crossed for Farnham Town Council who did a brilliant job making the town centre look spectacular for Farnham in Bloom - watch this space!
BBC Radio interview!
Trustee and garden volunteer Jill was interviewed by BBC Radio Surrey to talk about the magic of space2grow! You can listen to the episode here. Jill is interviewed 1hr 21min into the episode https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002fsgn
alfresco parenting
The warm weather meant that some of the parenting sessions were held outside in the garden. Both an 8 week course for parents of all ages and a 5 week course for parents of teenagers were delivered during the summer term. The September dates have been scheduled, if you are interested in the courses email info@theparentingspace.space
reflections from the acre...
We were delighted to be able to host multiple school visits to the acre, providing free afternoons of fun, the children shared their favourite parts of their visits;
"I really enjoyed space2grow because all of the activities were fun and the staff were all very kind. My favourite part was at the start when we played the game called 'legs’ and the member of staff won for the first time."
"I enjoyed the raft building because I liked how we could build them and test them. The adults working there were nice. I liked the treasure hunt because I like looking for stuff – looking for the paw-print was probably my favourite"
"My favourite part was the scavenger hunt because it was fun and we got to run
around and find the letters."
"It was fun because I played hide and seek, decorated bunting and played in the mud kitchen."
"space2grow was an amazing place. Everyone there was nice and kind. My favourite bits were building rafts and playing hide and seek as there were great hiding spots "
