A heartbreaking loss for our community
With heavy hearts, we share that on the evening of Thursday, 13 June 2024, an arson attack severely damaged our beloved community garden. This senseless act destroyed buildings, equipment, trees, plants, and so much more, striking at the heart of Inspero, a local organisation that has brought hope and support to so many young people over the years.
A vital haven for well-being and growth
Our community garden is a vital, safe haven — a serene green space where we grow food for our Food Bank, teach children in our Cooking Programme, and provide work placements for SEN students. It’s also a place for well-being programmes, where people find mental, physical, and emotional support. This thoughtless act of destruction has left our staff, trustees, and dedicated volunteers shocked and saddened.
“We have people from all walks of life that come down here to socialise, for mental health conditions, some people recovering from diseases, we also have a lot of SEN special needs students that come here to learn horticulture skills.” Catherine Waters-Clark.
To read more, you can visit the BBC’s coverage of the event here.
Join us in restoring our community garden
In response, we’ve launched a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of rebuilding. This includes restoring the buildings, replanting the garden, and replacing essential equipment. A nearby neighbour, who bravely raised the alarm, also suffered damage to their property. While some of the loss may be covered by insurance, much will not, and we now face additional costs to add security measures to protect this precious space that has always been rooted in trust and community spirit.
Please join us in rebuilding and restoring our community garden, so we can continue to serve and support those who need us most.
Your generosity and kindness mean the world to us in this challenging time. Thank you from all of us at Inspero for helping us rebuild hope.
Big Love,
Inspero xx
