[ad] There is an air of new season excitement at Thorngrove this month. You can’t keep a good gardener down, no matter how much rain comes their way
We could hardly believe it last week when the spring sunshine was actually making itself known for more than five minutes at a time! Better late than never though, as the saying goes!
This time of year tends to see a few more customers through our doors – as the weather warms up, many of us start to take advantage of our garden spaces. When those bursts of inspiration hit we tend to look to fill any gaps with some vibrant interest. The garden centre courtyard is always bursting with colour and life and a whole range of options to fit any size space – it won’t be long before the roses are making themselves known, so do stop by and see what there is to discover here at Thorngrove (don’t forget while you’re there to visit the glasshouse too!).
The garden campus
Regular visitors to Thorngrove will know that our garden centre also functions as a campus for young people with special educational needs and disabilities. It’s a place for education and work experience, and also an adult social care day service. Students are often completing community projects and fundraising, and in April we were finally able to present Krystina from Gillingham Youth Project Hipp!!Bones a cheque for £200. The money was raised through the Winter Wonderland event we held last December. Hipp!!Bones is a youth club utilised by some of our own students, and they felt very proud too have been able to give something back to the project which is so important in our community.
The Gillingham campus continues to develop, and earlier this year we released a little ‘day in the life’ short video about what it’s like to work and study at Thorngrove, with some insight from staff and students – you can watch it below!
The garden centre and café act as real-world environments for the students to hone their life and work skills. So the next time you visit Thorngrove, feel free to ask for a prospectus if you, or somebody you know, might benefit from the way we can help young people develop their skills, confidence, and independence.
You may have just missed our most recent open day, but we offer guided tours and even taster sessions all year round.
We understand that every individual is different, and we tailor timetables to suit specific needs. If you’re looking to take that next step in finding the future for a young person in your family or care, please do reach out. We’d love to chat.
