We ‘Get by With A Little Help from Our Friends…’

As the well known Beatles song title goes …we all sometimes need that help from our friends, albeit in our personal lives or work place but this is even more so when you’re working as volunteer group.

In fact I’d go as far to say that without this help from friends, often family (and many strangers) there’s no way volunteer groups could continue to do what they do, help others and improve lives for their local communities.

Such was the case this week.

A large part of our role in the Friends of Radipole Park and Gardens is fund-raising…by any means available. From holding events…

… people becoming members or our committee to applying for grants and funding.

You name it…we follow the leads.

A few weeks ago I was over the moon to receive a phone call from a delightful young lady called Georgina who works at Goulds Garden Centre. We had applied for the chance to win x amount of gift vouchers that could be used towards our designated project.

If my neighbours were wondering why I was jigging around my garden like a demented morris dancer and throwing out whoops of joy…now they know.

We had been awarded £400 of Goulds garden gift vouchers towards our present project of the Sensory Garden.

Last week all those groups who had been lucky enough to be awarded funds towards their chosen projects were invited to a slap up afternoon feast in the gardens cafe.

Ice cold Prosseco stood at the ready, plates of scrumptious finger foods beckoned caring nothing for their calorie count and the wonderful Georgina sat and chatted to us all.

She explained that Goulds, as a local family firm, were keen to support as many of the local voluntary groups as they could and they decided that instead of doing it piecemeal it would be best to select so many from the numerous submissions they received for that year to  give a sizeable sum to.

It was fascinating to see the wide selection of community groups there and get to hear their  stories of what they were up to, how they managed, their struggles to find enough volunteers (something we all seemed to suffer from at one stage or another)

They really were a diverse bunch, some I already knew about, but some were new to me.

Just goes to show how many groups there are in our area that are working hard to improve all our lives.

After much sipping and munching we all headed for the playpark area to have our photos taken with our oversized cheques.

Thank you Georgina and thank you Goulds.

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I hasten to add that we have had so much help, support and funding for this Sensory garden project from all manner of sources, only a small selection of whom are listed below.

Stepping into Nature have been there all through our journey with both practical and funding support.

Local writer, editor and publisher, Julie Musk from Roving Press, messaged me out of the blue then arrived on my doorstep with two big boxes crammed full of new books to be used towards our fund-raising efforts.

Two of the supermarket chains have also continually stepped up to the plate, not only stepped up but climbed aboard.

Morrrisons of Weymouth

and Tescos of Portland have supported us time and time again.

We couldn’t do any of this without all your support…take great pride in the fact that you are helping not only us but your local community.

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