Past
Events and News
2008Visit to Hungary Gardener,
Richard Bruce visited Hungary with Hospitalfield House staff in July to
take part in a bread making artistic event. This was the second part of
a three year event involving art projects in various parts of Europe. Trellis meeting - April Trellis,
an organisation that promotes health through agriculture, held a
network meeting at Hospitalfield House in April. HOPE hosted this
event.
Recycled plastic bottle greenhouse Recycled
plastic bottle greenhouse. This was constructed by the staff in
the spring of 2008. It has been very successful and has attracted
a lot of interest. There are plans to construct a second one in
the Walled Garden. John Muir Awards The
staff have been undertaking these awards and there are plans for
some of trainees to do these awards, which are designed to
heighten awareness of environmental issues.
Walled Garden There
has been extensive work carried out by staff and volunteers to
restore the Walled Garden. Some trainees have grown their own
vegetables in a rabbit free area for the first time. There are areas with herbs and it is hoped to grow cut flowers in the future.
Muirfield Primary School This
school is situated very close to HOPE. This spring groups of
children visited the garden. The Nursery Class planted daffodils
in the wild flower meadow. Primaries 1 & 2 visited
in connection with a healthy eating programme at the school.
Quiz night - Thursday 20th March
This
was held at the Star Inn in Friockheim, with quizmasters Sandy and Ann
Stuart. There was a raffle and stovies were served, and the grand total
at the end of the evening was £328. Spring bulb sale - Saturday 1st March
This was timed to coincide with Mother's Day, and we sold other spring plants as well as bulbs. We raised over £460! 2007
Punch
in the Polytunnel - Saturday 18th December
We got into the festive spirit at the HOPE
Garden, and picked up some Christmas presents at our winter plant sale. Coffee
morning - Saturday 10th November
This was held at Old and Abbey Church hall, West Abbey St, Arbroath.
As well as the usual coffee morning stalls, we had HOPE produce
for sale, and a stall by Angus LETS (Local Exchange Trading Scheme).
Open
Day - Sunday 9th September
We had plants and organic veges for sale, with a polytunnel
opening event at 2.30pm. There was a sponsored football match at 1pm -
Arbroath trainees vs Montrose trainees.
AGM - Wednesday 23rd August This was held at the Volunteer Centre Angus offices in Arbroath. Soil Association Organic Fortnight 07 - 1st-16th September
H.O.P.E. is a member of the
Soil Association, which organised an Organic Fortnight. Businesses, individuals
and communities across Britain joined together to celebrate all things
organic, stage events and promote organic products up and down the country.
This year they called on the nation to 'Wake up to an Organic Breakfast',
encouraging everyone to try an organic breakfast during the Fortnight
whether at home, at work or out and about. Customers of the H.O.P.E. vege
box scheme received a special offer in their box during this fortnight
- a cookbook called "Boxing Clever", available to those who
join the Soil Association.
Queen's
Award for Voluntary Service
We were one of the two Angus winners of this award for 2007
- the other was Radio North Angus. This award began in the Queen's jubilee
year in 2002; it recognises the vital role played by the hundreds of thousands
of ‘unsung heroes’ of the voluntary and community world and
emphasises the importance of continuing recognition of their work. Visit
the award's website to see the list
of this year's winners in Scotland.
This award
was presented to Cedric de Voil (HOPE's chairman) by Georgiana Osborne
(the Lord Lieutenant for Angus) at a reception in the magnificent Hospitalfield
House on 29th August 2007. Cedric's speech on that occasion paid tribute
to the people who have contributed so much to its success.
Visit
to Hungary
Gardeners Bernie and Joyce and trainee Gerry spent 4 days in
Hungary in May as the guests of the Hospitalfield Trust. They stayed near
Budapest. This visit was organised by Mr William Payne, the Director of
the Hospitalfield Trust. HOPE had previously taken part in an art project
on the colour green. This project is taking place in two German centres,
at Fort Monostri in Hungary and at Hospitalfield House in Arbroath.
Vegetable
box scheme
This year's scheme will started
on Monday 18th June. This year's warm weather has resulted in most crops
growing faster than usual. Boxes cost £6. Extra produce can be obtained
at the Garden on weekday afternoons.
Spring
Plant Sale
Despite poor weather on May 12th we still managed to raise
£570. A BBQ and refreshments were available, and there was face
painting, family activities and tours of the garden - something for the
whole family! There are still plenty of plants for sale weekday afternoons
at the garden.
Coffee
morning draws a crowd and funds
Our coffee morning
on 17th March was well supported by local people, raising much-valued
funds for our ongoing activities. We shared the Old & Abbey church
premises that morning with the new Angus
LETS group, who share some members
in common with HOPE.
HOPE
receives two significant rewards
Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland have donated the second
half of their £20,000 award which is being given over 2 years, to
help fund one of the gardener's salaries.
The Robertson Trust has awarded HOPE a grant of £27,000 which will
be paid over 3 years. The first instalment of £11,000 received in
January 2007 will be used to renew polytunnels and to purchase equipment
for the trainees and staff.
2006
Variety
Show - 7.30pm 28th November with Radio Scotland and Michelle McManus
HOPE organised a fundraising concert jointly with Radio Scotland
at the Reid Hall in Forfar. The concert was recorded to be broadcast as
part of a series called 'Lets Do the Show'. Local acts who played in the
first half included Stephen Carcary, Angus Folk singing group, Something
Broken, and a samba and bagpipe band from Forfar Academy. The concert
was compered by the well-known Pop Idol celebrity, Michelle McManus, who
also sang in the second half.
There was great excitement at the gardens as two members of the Radio
Scotland production team, Karen and Rebecca came down to visit the gardens
and gather some material. They spoke to lots of people, including trainees,
volunteers, staff……..even some customers who had called in to
buy vegetables. They seemed very impressed by all that HOPE were doing
and left with some bags of tatties, onions and beans.
Here is Karen McKenzie from
Radio Scotland interviewing trainee Bill Cadger, garden supervisor Richard
Bruce and trustee Sandy Stuart.
Charity
Challenge - Sponsored Cycle in November
Kirsty McReady, proprietor of the Star Inn in Friockheim, registered
with Charity Challenge to participate in the Rajastan Tiger Bike Race
Expedition (17-28 November). All sponsorship money that she raised will
benefit H.O.P.E.
Angus
Open Doors weekend in September
The garden was open for visitors to take a tour and to purchase plants
- many of the visitors to our famous neighbour, Hospitalfield House, also
visited the garden. This was a great way to raise the profile of H.O.P.E
in our local community.
Arbroath
SeaFest
Once again H.O.P.E ran the cafe in the Community
Centre where the Craft Fair is held - it's a great fundraiser and the
big team of volunteers who helped in the kitchen and served the tables
did a great job.
AGM
and Public Meeting
The AGM was again held at Lochlands Adult Resource Centre in Arbroath,
and featured local farmer Gill Lawrie as speaker, focusing on her work
in schools for the Angus Countryside Initiative.
New
member of staff
Following Bernie's decision to work part-time with H.O.P.E., Richard is
now the garden supervisor and Bernie job-shares with Joyce Pearce. Joyce
is a graduate of Angus College with an NC in horticulture, and works at
the garden on Tuesdays and Fridays, with Bernie doing the other three
days of the week. Joyce has her own allotment and is a keen organic gardener.
Extension
of gardening activity at Hospitalfield
Following discussions with the director at Hospitalfield House, H.O.P.E.
has extended into the walled garden nearer to the house. The weeds are
gradually coming under control, and the fruit trees, raspberries and bushes
have been pruned.
Lots
of fundraising activity!
2006 started with a round of HOPE fundraisers -
a quiz night at Friockheim in February, a coffee morning in Arbroath in
March, then back to Friockheim in April for a fashion show presented by
La Moda. Fun and fundraising certainly went hand in hand at all these
events! The Spring Plant Sale at the garden also went well, and resulted
in additional plant sales in the following weeks.
2005
Fundraising
successes
Our sponsored walk and pool competition in October raised £522.90.
We also earned £1,400 through our Punch in the Polytunnel morning
in December and through the sale of Christmas wreaths.
Disco
Every winter HOPE holds a disco for the trainees and volunteers and their
families and friends. This was a great night out in mid-December at the
Viewfield Hotel; the dance floor was always busy and people were keen
to try out their skills with the karaoke!
Music
to the ears
HOPE supporters enjoyed an October evening of jazz at the Abbey Theatre
in Arbroath, swinging to the sounds of the Hill St Band. A successful
raffle swelled the coffers too!
Visit
to Beechgrove
The trainees returned the compliment of the Beechgrove team and visited
them in their garden in Aberdeenshire in September.
Another
fundraising success
Our need for funds
is constant, and so is our fundraising. Our autumn coffee morning on 24th
September took place once again in the lovely hall at the Old & Abbey
Church, West Abbey St, Arbroath. Thanks to all those who came along to
have a cuppa with us on this morning. We had a raffle, tombola, home baking,
and of course a plant stall! Contributions to the stalls and help to staff
them were much appreciated.
Providing
sustenance of a different sort
Once again we provided
the refreshments and light meals over the weekend of the Arbroath Seafest
(20th-21st August). This local festival gets bigger and bigger every year
- last year numbers topped 30,000. Our cafe was held in the Arbroath Community
Centre in Marketgate, where the craft fair operates, and was a very busy
and profitable event.
The year
in review
Our AGM for 2005
was held on Wednesday 13th July at Lochlands Adult Resource Centre, Cairnie
Rd, Arbroath. The guest speaker was Mr Michael Hill OBE, Joint Managing
Trustee of the Murton Wildlife Trust for Environmental Education at Forfar.
We were
on the telly!
The Beechgrove Garden
film crew and presenter Lesley Watson visited H.O.P.E on 30th June to
film the trainees, volunteers and staff in action. We featured on their
programme on BBC1 Scotland and Sky Digital Channel 941 at 7pm on Thursday
7th July. Many thanks to everyone who rallied around on the day, and especially
to Bernie and Richard, who overcame their camera shyness for the sake
of the project!
BT Community
Connections
HOPE has been successful
in receiving a computer from BT under its Community Connections scheme.
We have still to decide where this will be sited, but it will make a big
difference to the garden staff, who have a lot of paperwork in connection
with the College modules and the Soil Association certification procedures.
Friends
of HOPE evening
We launched Friends
of HOPE at our 10 year anniversary event in June 2004, to help sustain
the project when the lottery funding runs out in two years' time. We are
looking for supporters to become more involved in a practical way as well
as helping to sustain the financial needs of the garden. We held a Friends
of HOPE evening at Bruce House in Arbroath in April to explain what being
a "friend" really means and to enjoy a social evening.
Welcome
to Bernie Dawks
Bernadette (Bernie)
Dawks started work as HOPE's new garden development worker on 11th April
2005. Bernie lives in Montrose and has worked at the Walled Garden in
Stracathro for several years. There she developed an extensive vegetable
garden and reorganised the flower borders on an alphabetical basis. Before
that, Bernie was a volunteer gardener at the House of Dun. Bernie's work
at Stracathro has involved her with some of Sunnyside Hospital's long-term
psychiatric patients.
We welcome her joining Richard
Bruce at the garden and we know that she will be trying out some new activities
once she has become established.
Farewell
to Debbie Lochhead
Our head gardener,
Debbie Lochhead, moved onto new pastures in January 2005. Her new job
is working with learning disabled people in horticulture at Elmwood College
in Cupar. We wish her all the best in this new venture!
Debbie gave almost 4 years
to HOPE. Her enthusiasm and imagination let the project develop beyond
our dreams and we are all very grateful to her. She will still have contact
with HOPE and plans to support our future fundraising events, so we have
not said a final goodbye to her. At the HOPE coffee morning on 5th March
in St Andrew's Church, Arbroath, we made a presentation to her to mark
our appreciation of her years of dedication to the trainees, volunteers
and supporters of HOPE. We hope that the rowan, laburnum and flowering
crab apple trees will flourish in her garden and remind her of her time
at HOPE.
New Modules
Richard has introduced
new Environmental Modules which 5 trainees have taken up. As a result,
there are now several new environmental areas around the garden. The first
stages of the modules have been completed, and there will be follow-up
sections, including asessing of the environmental benefits of the areas
that have been created.
New Tea
Shed
After a long delay,
which was caused by the need to disconnect and reconnect the electricity,
we now have a lovely big tea shed. Fortunately the early part of the winter
was mild, but in the cold spell that followed it has been a real boon.
We are grateful to the Forsyth Fund and the William Coull Anderson Trust
for their contributions towards the funding of the shed.
2004
Raffle
HOPE held a raffle over the coffee morning and Punch in the Polytunnel
events in the last quarter of 2004. The main prizes were two water colour
paintings presented to HOPE by local artist, Helen Whamond and a box of
HOPE's organic vegetables. We were really pleased when gardener Richard
Bruce won the paintings!
Disco
Every winter HOPE holds a disco for the trainees and volunteers and their
families and friends. This was a great night out at the end of November;
the dance floor was always busy and people were keen to try out their
skills with the karaoke!
Sponsored
walk
About 20 hardy people turned out on a rainy afternoon to walk the St Vigeans
Nature Trail and back on 10th October. Some of them were in fancy dress.
Thank you to the folks who provided refreshments in St Vigeans Church
hall afterwards. It was greatly appreciated. Despite the rain it was a
very enjoyable experience.
Grant Aid
Award
Angus Council has given HOPE £2,430 of Grant Aid for the year 2004
/ 2005. This will cover the costs of electricity, water, insurance and
the hire of the portaloo facility. It was also covers the cost of protective
clothing for the trainees and volunteers.
Arbroath
Hospitals Social Club
HOPE was one of number of local groups to be awarded £150 by the
Arbroath Hospitals Social Club. Trainees - Scott Bates, Norman Paul and
James Taylor went along to Arbroath Infirmary on 30th September to be
presented
with the cheque.
Garden Open
Day
H.O.P.E. held an
Open Day at the garden on Sunday 12th September from 11am till 4pm, to
coincide with the opening of our neighbour, Hospitalfield House, as part
of Angus Council's Open Doors Scheme. . There were plants and organic
vegetables on sale as well as home baking and soup. Several visitors came
to see both venues and we had some new additions to the vegetable box
scheme subscribers. Debbie's vegetable mulligatawny soup was particularly
popular!
10
Years of Gardening at the HOPE Garden
This year marks
10 years of gardening at the organic garden, situated in the grounds of
Hospitalfield House. A number of events have been organised to celebrate
this important milestone.
Celebration
Dance
H.O.P.E. had a ceilidh type dance on 23rd April at the Meadowbank
Inn. Trainees, volunteers and supporters had an enjoyable night out together.
Highlight of the evening was the accordion played by Euan and Murray Farquharson,
brothers from Dundee, who are both supported by Sense Scotland. Euan has
been coming to the garden since March 2004 and hopes to take his first
SQA gardening module in the second half of 2004.
Garden
Party
Wednesday 16th June was the date chosen for a garden party
which was held in a marquee at the organic garden. Invitations were sent
to all the organisations and individuals who have supported H.O.P.E. over
the past 10 years. Despite rather poor weather, this was a very happy
occasion with all the trainees present. Deputy Provost of Angus, Stewart
McGlinn gave a short congratulatory speech and H.O.P.E. Chairman Cedric
de Voil gave a resume of the achievements of H.O.P.E. over the past 10
years.
Over 20 trainees
were presented with Certificates of Achievement by Debbie Lochhead and
Richard Bruce, H.O.P.E.'s gardeners. The trainees will receive their SQA
certificates in August. Almost all the H.O.P.E. trainees have passed SQA
modules in the past year. Since Debbie and Richard qualified as workplace
assessors two years ago over 20 trainees have participated in gardening
related SQA modules, verified by Angus College and certificated by nationally
by the Scottish Qualification Agency. Modules completed and passed include
Workstart gardening skills, Handtools used in horticulture and a Land
Industries Module. For some of the trainees this was their first ever
academic qualification and it was moving to witness how much this mattered
to them.
The ceremony was
followed by the cutting of a celebration cake by Michael and Sylvia, who
have been with H.O.P.E. since it started. There was a display of photographs
and press cuttings of the project and two paintings of the garden that
were painted last year by trainees Ian and Wayne. Visitors were then invited
to tour the garden, although the rain started to fall rather heavily at
this stage.
BBQ
Everyone enjoyed a summer BBQ at Glasterlaw on 17th July. This
was a thank you to the trainees, volunteers and staff for their wonderful
support over the past 10 years. Many thanks are extended to John and Jane
Shearer, who were our hosts for this event.
H.O.P.E. 10 Year Birthday Presents
H.O.P.E. had a marvellous response to our request for old and
new tools to mark H.O.P.E.'s 10th birthday. From garden shed clear outs,
sparkling new hand tool gift sets, cash and hardware store vouchers were
received. Many thanks to so many for their generosity. One Arbroath lady
donated a brand new cold frame and loads of plants from her impressive
garden.
Balmoral
Road Race
Trainee, Gerry from Montrose, took part in this year's race
in May and raised enough money for two shiny new wheel-barrows.
Grand
Plant Sale
Held on 15th May, this year's plant sale was a big success.
The day was helped by good weather. The newly constructed BBQ was appreciated
by both customers and volunteers. £875 was raised on the day. Sales
before and since the event have been very good and we should equal last
year's total of over £1,500. Plants are always available for sale
on weekday afternoons between 2pm and 4pm.
Arbroath
Probus Club
We were delighted to receive a cheque for £250 from the
Arbroath Probus Club. This money will be spent on new vegetable boxes,
which we have purchased from the Soil Association, and a new pair of scales.
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