Charity garden transformed by volunteers

Karen Grimes, business manager at Halifax Chichester, lead the team of volunteer gardeners on Sunday.

She chose to help Worthing Scope, as the charity sponsors Worthing Town Football Club’s ladies’ team and she is their captain.

The charity has owned a house in Grand Avenue, Worthing, for more than 40 years, providing a home to five disabled adults with support workers.

Karen explained: “My employer, Halifax, encourages all colleagues to get involved in the community and make a difference.

“It’s a great feeling to give something back to such a great cause and only wish more people would consider what a difference you can make.”

Karen, her partner Kelly and baby daughter Remi attended, along with two members of staff from Halifax Chichester and three women from the football team.

“We arrived, ready and raring to go and battle the overgrown garden,” said Karen. “It was a pleasure to meet the residents and hear what a difference it would make to them.

“It was hard graft, as the vines and weeds had been there for some time, and resulted in two trips to the tip.

“You can now see the front pathway with a tidy front garden leading to the front door with some new plants in the pots, too.

“We also managed to plant some more plants in the back garden. These were donated from Mr Perks, a regular customer in the Halifax in Chichester.”

Pauline Fox, Worthing Scope’s chief executive, said the residents enjoyed sitting in the garden and liked to watch the family of foxes that had taken up residence at the top end and often sunbathed on the lawn.

“The garden is big, but it is the only piece of garden the charity owns, so we do not employ a team gardeners,” she explained.

“We are very keen to make sure it is attractive and can be used by the residents, if they wish to, so any offers of support to maintain it are very welcome.

“We have been fortunate over the years because many different organisations have taken it on as a community project and the tenants really benefit from it.

“We are extremely grateful to Karen and her team. It has worked well for me, the tenants we support and for Karen and her team.”

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