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David Woods from Woodford started ‘David’s Growing Plants for the NHS’ in April 2020, and you may remember a previous article in Village Connect when he had raised over £2,000. David has now passed the £20,000 milestone this February – what an achievement! David grows all sorts of plants and has a stall on his drive, which is open every day. He grows summer bedding plants from seed, marigolds, begonias, cosmos, rudbeckias and sweet peas, as well as many vegetables, broad beans, runner beans, courgettes, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes. In summer, he supplies freshly cut bunches of sweet peas on stall, bags of fresh picked tomatoes and beans. David has Multiple Sclerosis and gardening has kept him active since he retired early 11 years ago from the NHS. Gardening was an excellent way for people to get through the pandemic, staying at home in their gardens and keeping active. His gardening page and stall encourages the community to enjoy their gardens, and they also get satisfaction of helping the NHS. His group, see link below, now has over 1,200 members and David posts every day photos of what is on the stall. He does weekend garden photo challenges, tips and advice videos and sometimes ‘live’ broadcasts from the stall. Each day the post tells everyone the running total of how much has been donated. Currently, on stall he has a wide range of bulbs such as hyacinths, narcissus, crocus, alliums and iris. It has become a community venture. People are being very generous, like supplying apples to the stall in the autumn. A friend in the next village makes and supplies bird nesting boxes and bug hotels. His sister Sally makes and supplies Christmas wreaths each year, which boosts donations. There is a Just Giving page for anyone to donate; just search for ‘David’s Growing Plants for the NHS’. David feels he is getting the best of both worlds: doing what he loves doing, gardening, which keeps him active and helps with his own health, knowing at the same time that he is improving the health of many others, by helping the NHS. www.justgiving.com/fundraising/davidsgrowingplantsforthenhs www.facebook.com/groups/158400812212160 |
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