Appeal — The Sunnyside Orchard Nursery 2024
Randle Siddeley paid a visit to Sunnyside and The Sunnyside Orchard Nursery to hear all about their latest project. He enjoyed our unique focus, which lies in guiding participants through the entire ‘plot to plate’ cycle. This encompasses everything from planting seeds and nurturing plants to producing goods for sale in the farm shop or at local markets.
During the visit, Randle teamed up with Arit Anderson to load a tray brimming with delicious, fresh produce cultivated by the dedicated team at Sunnyside Rural Trust.
Our new service for 2024, The Sunnyside Orchard Nursery:
Sunnyside wants to offer a new service providing horticultural therapy, high quality perennial plant growing, training & education, a sustainable social enterprise & a community hub in Serge Hill, Herts. The land is owned by Tom & Sue Stuart-Smith and they have given us access to the impressive plant library on site, to propagate and collect seeds from. The nursery will offer an innovative, dynamic service for some of the community’s most vulnerable people. Sunnyside will grow perennials here for commercial sale while supporting & training vulnerable young people & adults with learning disabilities in horticulture.
Sunnyside’s base: The main object of fund-raising is to create a safe space to work from. The site will include a mess room, purpose-built glasshouse, level standing-out areas and composting area.
While the therapeutic benefits of horticulture are clear & cut, the combination of this with a strong social enterprise model will ensure it is sustainable for the long term. This nursery will provide a space to heal & the opportunity to develop & gain paid employment.
Only 5.1% of people with learning disabilities in the UK, are in paid work compared to 84% of their peers. We are actively seeking to positively change this.
What do we need?
We are seeking funding for initial set up. We are grateful for donations large or small. Donors’ names will be displayed on a thank you board to mark your generosity for years to come.
You are helping this nursery become a reality that will benefit so many.
GREENHOUSE – total required £60,100
Donate here – Thank you for your donation.