Disability charity raise thousands during lockdown – by selling plants

Workers at a disability charity have managed to raise more than £2,000 during lockdown by selling plants out of their own front gardens.

Staff and volunteers at Beyond the Wall – a day centre in Thornham Magna, which helps people with diassabilities learn horticulture and study nature – set up impromptu stalls outside their homes, selling plants to neighbours and passersby.

In total, the makeshift venture managed to raise an impressive £2,300 in a little over two months – money which kept the charity ticking over during lockdown.

Manager Karen Bleay, 42, said after their fundraising events were cancelled in March, staff at Beyond the Wall, which boasts its own garden centre, were forced to look for alternative revenue streams.

She said: “In a normal year, we would have our stall here, where we would sell plants to the public. With people in lockdown, they were asking what to do to help, so we had the idea to take the plants and sell them from people’s homes instead.

“The plants sold were all grown at the garden centre by members and volunteers, and the money raised will directly benefit our members, who all have additional needs – it’s nice because they’re helping the charity raise money and, in turn, the money helps them.”

The plants, priced between £1.50 and £3, included perennials, lavenders, succulents, and rhubarb stalks, which were left unguarded, relying on the good faith of neighbours to pick out a plant and leave their payments in a box.

“We let people know it was for a charity, and just left the stall unmanned, so it shows people were being very honest,” said Mrs Bleay.

The campaign has proven a crucial resource at a time when one in 10 charities in the UK are facing bankruptcy due to the financial impact of the pandemic.

Mrs Bleay said: “The support has been incredible. We normally make £1,000 from just selling plants. So to make this much is brilliant.”