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Our mission is to create brighter futures for children and young people. We do this by providing fostering, residential and support services where children and young people can feel safe and cared for. We support them to make positive relationships which give them the confidence to succeed.
Teams of green-fingered volunteers from Google have transformed the gardens in some of our services for Give and Gain, a national campaign to encourage organisations to take on charitable work.
One group of volunteers went to one of our children’s homes in West London to give the back garden a makeover. Staff and young people all agree it’s looking much better and they can now grow their own vegetables.
The Google team at Howard House, a 16+ service in North London, built a picnic bench for the garden so that there was somewhere nice outside to hold keywork sessions and spend time together.
Volunteers at Knowland House, a 16+ service in South East London, enjoyed a cake made by a young person who wanted to do something to say thank you for their hard work. Zu, who works at Google, said: “Thanks to young people and staff at St Christopher’s for lunch, cake and well-organised task direction!”
At Cornock-Taylor, a 16+ service in West London, Support Worker Ashley Boscoe liaised with two Community Gardeners from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea who offered guidance and advice on the day about making the most of the garden.
The Google volunteers and Cornock-Taylor staff also visited another local community garden on the day to get some inspiration for their own project. Some young people also got involved and have benefitted from looking after the plants because it makes them think about how they look after themselves.
Finally, a group visited No. 66 children’s home in North London. They cleared away the overgrown areas and planted new flowers to complement the service’s colourful mural.
Across all the services young people have been getting involved with digging flower beds, weeding and planting seeds. They are looking forward to enjoying their hard work when the sun finally comes out.
Fundraising Officer Vanessa Khimoun-Jourdan said: “It’s always nice to work with other organisations but it was a big surprise to hear that Google wanted to volunteer in our services. I enjoyed getting to know the volunteers and they showed incredible commitment. Thank you to all the participants for their support.”