Some excellent news! 🎉
Last month we got some joyous news that we are so excited to tell you about. In September, Bloom was awarded with multi-year funding from The National Lottery Community Fund! This funding is so vital to what we do and we are so grateful to the National Lottery - and everyone that plays- for supporting our organisation and the work we do in the community.
Photo by Helena Dolby
Bloom has been going for 5 years now and it started with just a small idea of using gardening to help people. We know that everyone at some point in their lives will feel lonely, anxious, overwhelmed or depressed and that is where Bloom comes in. A space where you can come and soak up the outdoors, listen to the birds, chat to like-minded people over a cuppa, keep your hands busy and learn something new. All of these things help us so much when going through a challenging time and we have been working for the past 5 years to provide that space for people.
We are a small organisation with an amazingly dedicated staff and volunteer team, who do it all. From running the groups, to shovelling manure, we are all in. Our volunteers are the soul of our organisation and have made quite a tricky year possible for us. We cannot thank them enough for their hard work and enthusiasm - we are so lucky to have them on the team with us.
We also want to thank everyone who supports us in other ways. If you have ever been to the shop and brought some flowers and a card, donated money or if you have been to a workshop or event - thank you. You keep us going and your support is so integral to our existence.
Photo by Helena Dolby
Everyone at Bloom understands how gardening and the outdoors can help people and it is that passion and commitment that has kept us going in difficult times.
Running a community organisation is incredibly challenging. We don’t receive any support from the local council or the NHS so we rely totally upon the sales of our flowers and events, and the generosity of funders such as the National Lottery. Many funding pots are for 1 year, so the fact we have been awarded with multi-year funding means that we can plan ahead, keep growing and most importantly continue helping people.
This funding will help us develop and expand our Gardening to Feel Good groups, meaning we can accept more referrals to our therapeutic horticulture groups. It also means we can welcome more people to our Gather & Grow sessions and deliver our Winter Wellbeing programme throughout the colder months - more on this soon! But most of all it gives us stability, which is imperative to growth and development. We cannot express how thankful/relieved/overwhelmed/excited we are.
So watch this space for new developments and an exciting year ahead 💙