Thanks to an award of £5000 of funding from the Lancashire Community Foundation, several of our sheltered accommodation communities are benefitting from a range of new outdoor furniture and gardening resources. The investment in these outdoor spaces is helping to reduce social isolation and improve resident wellbeing during the ongoing pandemic.
The outdoor furniture was selected by our customers and includes Jack and Jill benches, rockers and several tables and chairs. Elsewhere, the funding has been used to invest in perennial plants and hanging baskets to help beautify the outdoor space. The improvements have inspired residents to organise a gardening club and they have even created a range of herb and vegetable plots. As a finishing touch, solar lights have been added to the trees to ensure the outdoor space remains accessible as we enter the winter months.
With residents enduring an immensely difficult year and unable to see family and friends, this funding has been a welcome boost. The improved outdoor areas have been heavily used throughout the summer, bringing residents together (safely) and helping to forge new friendships.
“The community funding made a massive difference to our customers in our communal schemes. It meant they could socially distance outside using the new furniture which meant they could maintain their friendships and community spirit during the first lockdown. Gardening became a highlight and vegetable patches were created, along with hanging baskets and flower beds. We even had people who are normally very shy joining in”
Joanne Chadwick, Independent Living Manager, Calico Homes
We’d like to thank the Community Foundation for Lancashire, The National Emergencies Trust (NET) and Lancashire Resilience Forum for their generous support and for making this project possible.
The Community Foundation for Lancashire launched the Lancashire COVID-19 Community Support Fund to help community and voluntary groups. The fund aims to help those impacted by the Coronavirus outbreak, particularly vulnerable people within Lancashire’s communities.
