Happy New Year everyone!
Christmas and New Year has come and gone and we are looking back on an amazing first year in operation at Porlock! Thank you all for being part of our journey!
When I started the job as a Community Garden Coordinator in the new year of 2024, I really had no idea what was in store! I had a BIG vision, lots of passion, an extremely steep learning curve and a massive amount of help from loads and loads of amazing people!
And together, we have actually created the beginning of the lush urban retreat we are envisioning for our local community! Instead of me listing everything that has happened, I shared a little video review of last year on Facebook before Christmas. I will share it here for you to enjoy.
Thank you to each and every one of you who have contributed to our progress and success so far, and we hope you still want to be part of our beloved Porlock Gardens in this new year!
We will start our first volunteer Tuesday next week, the 14th January from 10am-2pm (weather permitting, please follow our Facebook page for latest updates). Welcome!
Break in at Porlock during Christmas break
I wish that this New Year message was only a happy one, but as some of you might have seen from our " data-type="undefined" target="_blank">Facebook page, our gardens were broken into during our well deserved Christmas break, which has devastated the team..
A lot of property damage was done and many expensive tools and equipment along with the content of our donation box was stolen. There were signs that the thieves were also putting more equipment ready to be picked up and planning to come back for that at a later stage, but luckily one of our volunteers who were visiting to check the site on Monday 30th December and discovered the break-in, managed to secure what was left. Considering all our tools have been donated from our supporters and used on a regular basis by our devoted volunteers (along with tools privately owned by our volunteers), this incident has really shocked us, to the core. I can't believe people would steal from a charity (which basically means, to steal from the community).
We are putting in so much work to benefit everyone in the community, so it is really sad, disheartening and extremely disappointing. But, we are not beaten. In fact, both I and the team are, if possible, even more determined to create our beautiful urban retreat according to our vision.
We have reported the incident, but due to lack of evidence, the police has closed the case. If any residents in the area have seen (or have footage on their cctv/Ring cameras of) anything suspicious (by either of the entrances to Porlock) during the days between Christmas and New Year, please get in touch with me. Thank you so much.
Putting the disappointment of this last incident behind us, we are looking forward to an exciting year ahead with loads of changes, upgrades and great events and sessions planned! If you would like to be involved and be part of our lovely team of volunteers, please fill out the volunteer form on the website or get in touch with us directly. We are always looking for good people who want to help us become all we can be. Welcome!
Thank you all so much for your continued support.
We wish all the best to everyone for 2025!
In Comm-Unity,
Lise and the entire Porlock team