happiness at holiday club
This summer holiday we welcomed hundreds of children to the garden for our free holiday clubs. Children from as young as a few weeks up to ten years old enjoyed the freedom of being outside in a beautiful natural environment.
Coming from over 15 different local primary schools, many children did not know each other, but quickly found collaborative adventures and places to explore. They all loved being able to play and enjoy the fresh air. Pond dipping was a favourite activity and it did not disappoint with many a fish, pond skater and snail being popped into a pot for closer inspection.
An abundance of blackberries meant lots of picking. Berries not quickly eaten were used to make blackberry cordial. It was a joy watching the children discover how cucumbers grew. The cucumbers were harvested and shared with pride at snack time. Everyone agreed that they tasted amazing and were so much better than the ones from the shop! The newly repurposed 'doing shed' allowed the children to engage in a variety of crafts. This included decorating tiles, making beautiful butterflies, nature braclets and rain shakers. The children used their creative skills to make fabulous unique works of art that they were all proud of. There were even opportunities to investigate what the busy Men in Sheds team were up to. At the end of the newsletter we hear from the children and here are a few of the parents comments;
'Holiday clubs are so expensive and most are sports clubs. Having a space to go with your child where they can play and be in nature is so important.'
'My daughter absolutely loves it. It's a beautiful space with gorgeous greenery and nature. There are always great crafts for the kids and the staff are brilliant. Eventhough its in the town centre it feels so peaceful. Thank you so much!'
A HUGE thank you to the National Lottery for funding our holiday club sessions!
garden dancers
We also had the delightful opportunity of hosting a doorstep duets dance, organised in collaboration with Farnham Maltings. These free outdoor shows are a way of bringing dance to the community. This particular dance resonated with so many who watched it, it was a lovely story of a creative student struggling in a traditional school setting and using dance as her outlet - it was a JOY! The dancers were incredibly generous with their time for the Q&A session at the end. There is a short video about the creative process behind the dance which can be watched HERE
King's Award Celebration Evening
We were invited to the reception for nominees of the King's Award at Loseley Park having had the honour of being nominated by Farnham Town Council. Hosted by HM Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, Mr Michael More-Molyneux, it was a lovely evening where nominees got to celebrate and share their stories, spending time with Annabel and Robert who came to visit us as a part of the assessment process. Volunteers from our Men in Shed groups and our Garden volunteering group attended and it was a real celebration. The Kings Award is the highest award for UK voluntary organisations so being nominated is in itself a great tribute to the incredible work of our volunteers.
environmental focus
This year, for the first time, we have entered an environmental award with S&SEiB which included us reviewing the steps we take to look after the natural world around us and to be conscious of the impact our choices make. There are many small things that each group on the acre do such as recycling items, not using pesticides or herbicides and purchasing as little plastic as possible. There are also steps to encourage as much diversity of wildlife as possible - creating different environments, allowing wild pockets by gardening with a light touch. We find out how we did later in the Autumn.
working party success!
On Saturday 5th July we invited all the space2grow community to work together with the aim of achieving a lot in one morning. From families who have attended space2play or holiday club sessions, to parents who have attended the courses or adults who have done art sessions; young & old tackled the wide variety of gardening jobs. From light watering to clearing out the pond and tackling brambles! We were so impressed by the volunteers who came along and joined in with so much gusto. Thank you! Your help was really appreciated at a time of year when there is so much to do and we were amazed at how much got achieved in one morning. We will be hosting another weekend working party day in Autumn and if you are interested in attending please email info@space2grow.space for further details.
community support
We were delighted to be one of Tilford Fete's named charities. Hosted on a super hot day their 'hero's and villains' fete was an incredibly fun community day and it was a delight to be chosen by them.
Our time as Squires Badshot Lea nominated charity came to an end during the summer and they kindly had a charity coffee morning to mark the occasion. The support they have given us over the last two years has been incredible from shopping events & plantations, to santa grotto events, raffles & donations to the garden - A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL THE SQUIRES TEAM.
reflections from the acre...
At the end of the holiday club sessions many children and their families were reluctant to leave because they had had so much fun. It really is a wonderful experience for all involved and we loved hearing from the children themselves;
“I don’t really know where to start - I just love everything”
“It makes me happy”
“I like the art”
“I like it here because I get to get messy and no-one tells me not to”
“I like space2grow because you have lots of room to run around and there is a big maze where you can play hide and seek. It also has the firepit which is a circle, I like circles. You have this massive tree that you can sit in. But my most favourite part is that you can make juices with clean water and you can get your hands dirty. You can also do whatever you want and be whatever you want. So you can be characters and make massive dens. There is also this really cool hammock that you can swing on. You can do arts and crafts. I don’t think I mentioned that. But there is a massive tree that you can paint under and there is a mud kitchen. It’s amazing!"
