As many of you may know Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice is Herbert Scott’s chosen charity for 2016/17.
In our latest bid to spread awareness and also contribute towards the charity a group of Herbert Scott employees decided to volunteer for a day working in the gardens at the Hospice.
Upon arrival we were met by Flic, Chestnut Tree House’s gardener, who set us straight to work moving and sorting compost heaps.
After a few hours of hard work, we sat down together for a well-deserved break. We were joined by two of the fund-raising team who gave us an overview of the work carried out at the Hospice and by the wider community team. The support provided by Chestnut Tree House extends to the siblings of the patient and their wider family, including their Grandparents. We were also told that gardening volunteers such as ourselves saved the charity over £17,000 a year.
We were then given a tour of the fully accessible woodland walk and the memorial garden, where we all stood quietly for a few moments by the commemorative water feature reflecting on how important the work that Chestnut Tree House is.
Then it was back to the compost heaps for Kevin, Sam, Bertrand and me to finish our mornings work whilst Angela and Jodie watered 16 newly planted apple trees at the other side of the grounds.
Once all of the compost had been moved we met back together for a slice of homemade cakes provided by the kitchen and Flic thanked us for all of our hard work and on- going support for Chestnut Tree.
Chestnut Tree almost entirely rely on donations to carry out their incredible work, with only 7% of their funding coming from central government. Volunteering plays a huge role in this charity along and hopefully our day will encourage people to volunteer and see what difference it can make.
Kevin Scott said “We were all delighted to be able to help out in the hospice’s beautiful gardens. We went home dirty and aching, but it was all worth it to have helped such an inspirational charity. We look forward to raising more money for this fabulous cause over the coming months.”
To find out more about Chestnut Tree House please click here.