A Look At Our Community Work
A Look At Our Community Work
The whole team here at Whitakers Garden Centre prides ourselves in not only providing grand gardening products for our community, but also going one step further to support the more vulnerable amongst us too.
Over the past 12 months alone, we’re really proud to say that we’ve been able to support a number of charities, schools, and other causes. As a family-run business ourselves, we’d be nothing without the community we have around us – so we like to give back as much as we get out of it... And then some!
Did you know about our community and charity work in Prescot and the wider region? If not, let us tell you now.
Flowery Goodness
As a garden centre, often our first order of business is to use our prolific supply of seeds, plants, shrubs, and flowers to comfort the community where we can. We’ve supported several site allotments in the last year alone, including sending...
- Over 200 packets of seeds to Cuper Crescent, in which the seeds were sold at their onsite shop to raise money to help improve outdoor spaces for the residents as well as people who come to visit the area
- Over 200 packets of seeds to Ashfield, to brighten up this space and give the people of Prescot something most lovely to look at
- And over 150 packets of seeds to Prescot’s mental health community allotment, an initiative set up and run by volunteers who truly have hearts of gold
We’ve heard (and seen for ourselves) that these seeds have all now bloomed nicely and are bringing lots of joy to the people who both make use of the spaces and walk past them – which makes it all worthwhile!
Did you know we’ve also done some work with the Merseyside youth association? Earlier this year, we sent them some plants and compost that were later bedded in by the young people of the club. Apparently, the whole project really brought out some hidden green fingers amongst the group – which we love to hear.
More Mental Health
As you know, it’s not just flowers we sell at Whitakers Garden Centre! That means we try to make the most of what we have to support the charities and causes around us when we can. For a Mental Health Matters gathering in Prescot, we donated plenty of pebbles to keep the art sessions interesting.
The organisation’s purpose is to provide innovative, life-changing mental health support for individuals and communities, and they operate all over the UK. We’re glad we were able to get involved and support the wonderful work they’ve done in our local town.
As well as this, in line with this year’s Mental Health Awareness Day, and with only 10 weeks to Christmas, we wanted to start spreading the festive spirit with a donation of delightful festive decorations to Knowsley Resource and Recovery Centre.
Primary Schools
Over the pandemic, we found that schools struggled a lot with moving from being taught in class to being online. With this in mind, we decided to send a bulk donation of USB drivers to several education settings across the North West, giving them easier access to online work! And of course, we had to send over some of our wonderful seeds, compost, plants and bulbs when they were allowed back to school too. Our donations were made to:
- Oakdene Primary School in Rainhill
- Liverpool Diocesan Schools Trust
- St John’s in Bosco
- Ashton St.Thomas in Wigan
- St Edmunds in Arrowsmith
Festive Fun
Last year, in line with the return of our much loved Santa’s grotto, we very proudly donated over 650 Christmas presents to a number of local charities around the area including our local golf club, Cash For Kids, Eaton Street Park in Prescot and the Liverpool Homeless football club.
As you know, everyone who visits our Santa throughout December goes home with a gift, but we also like to spare a thought for those not able to enjoy such fun things. At Whitakers, the Prescot community has always been so kind to us, we love to repay that kindness by supporting the more vulnerable around us.
Our Charity Partner – Willowbrook Hospice
Finally, amongst the range of support we try to offer the community, did you know we’ve been a long-time partner of Willowbrook Hospice, raising money for the vital work they offer to lifetime residents of Prescot?
An independent charity which cares for people in the Merseyside region that have life-limiting illnesses, the hospice's vision is to provide “the best care delivered with compassion for our community.” That’s a concept we wholeheartedly can get behind at Whitakers.
So, in our years of trading, we’ve kept support for the hospice an ongoing goal of ours. Through tombolas, raffles, coffee mornings, craft fairs, and even celebrity visits, we try to do what we can for Willowbrook, and our lovely customers always show up for us and help us achieve our fundraising targets for them.
You can keep up with all our work with the local community over on our website, along with discovering all our latest news and advice on all things gardens. Why not follow our Facebook and Instagram page too whilst you’re there?
- Charles Fabian
