As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, Poundbury Gardens has donated 10% of its takings from Friday 4 March to The Grove Pre-School Playgroup in Dorchester, which offers children a safe and stimulating environment to learn, with a particular emphasis on gardening, growing and wildlife.
Back in January the garden centre, which is based just off Queen Mother Square in Poundbury, invited customers to nominate local charities and not-for-profit organisations to receive a donation during its 10 days of anniversary celebrations, which took place between Tuesday 1 and Thursday 10 March.
Jon Nash, assistant manager at Poundbury Gardens, (above left) explains; “We have really enjoyed learning about all of the inspiring local initiatives around us, as we take great pleasure in working with charities in the area. It was a really tough decision, but The Grove Pre-School Playgroup shone out with its continued efforts to get the children outside and interacting with wildlife and growing vegetables. This is something which we are always looking to encourage, so it is a real pleasure to be able to support this.”
“Natalie Hirst, chair of The Grove Pre-School Playgroup committee, (above right), adds; “It’s an honour to have been chosen to receive the donation, as we know there are so many deserving organisations in the local area. We have a few ideas about what we might put the money towards in the garden and we’ll be sure to keep everyone at Poundbury updated. We’d like to say a huge thank you to the team at Poundbury Gardens for this generous gift and wish them a very happy birthday.”
More than 60 charities were nominated for the donation and all nominees have since been invited to work with the centre on future fundraising events and were sent a £10 gift voucher for their next charity raffle.
Picture caption: (L-R) Jon Nash, assistant manager at Poundbury Gardens, Natalie Hirst, chair of The Grove Pre-School Playgroup committee, with her children Freddie and Annabel Hirst.
For more information about the 10 days of celebrations at Poundbury Gardens, please visit www.thegardeneronline.co.uk