Help fund a new van for Branch-out MK CIC

Aim

To raise funds in order to buy a replacement van to transport our gardeners to and from our cut flower growing plot.

We are Branch-out MK CIC

A not for profit social enterprise supporting adults with learning differences and autism in Milton Keynes. We provide a supported work environment, through Social and Therapeutic Horticulture, where we grow local, seasonal, cut flowers and make botanically inspired products for sale.

• In July this year our beloved flower van broke down and had to be sold for spares. Our opening photo shows where our van made its finally stop! We urgently need to raise funds to buy a new vehicle. 
• We need a van that has seating capacity for all of our gardeners (up to eight gardeners attend on a daily basis).
• We need this so that we can all get to the flower plot which is 5 miles away from our workshop base at York House Community Centre in Stony Stratford. 

Adults who come to our sessions (our gardeners) express an improvement in both mental and physical well-being. Our plot is a place where people can make friends, reduce social isolation, have a job role in a supported environment, learn new skills and be part of a thriving and vibrant local community. Everyone is encouraged to participate and work as part of a team.

We are a small organisation with three staff and we also support volunteers; people who may be retired and wanting to give something back to the community, returners to work who want to get back into the swing of things after having time off to raise their children, individuals with mental health support needs to want to use this as a first step to employment or people who need to build their CV.

Without our van we have been lost!

Our gardeners desperately miss the sessions at our flower plot; the chickens, the peace and tranquillity and even the composting toilet! For adults with autism any change is difficult and so this period of two months without transport has been particularly hard to bear. However, we believe that every challenge is an opportunity for learning and building emotional resilience, and so one day we will look back and see how this time of frustration has been tolerated and the idea of patience has been incorporated into our day to day experience.

Our flower plot needs us!

Without our daily visits to the plot the weeds have taken hold, flower productivity has diminished and it has meant additional work for staff who have had to complete the daily chores in the evenings and at weekends, on top of an already busy week. The chickens need daily attention too of course and all of these things take time and effort on top of the daily routine. Whilst being unable to attend the flower plot our gardeners have been busy looking after the gardens at the York House Community Centre in Stony Stratford. 

Although these gardens are looking really good, it is at the expense of our flowers, which are a key source of our income; without our cut flowers we cannot sustain our social enterprise long term, because the sales from the plot account for a third of our income. This is really important to us as we do not rely on grant funding. 

Our flowers (and our chickens) need us and we need you. So please help if you can to get us all back on the road and back to our plot! Thank you.

This project successfully funded on 22nd November 2019