Page 60 - ALG Issue 2 2021

Southern
Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and Isle of Wight
COVID-19, our allotment – and more
INTRODUCTION
Our allotment – Aldershot and District Allotment Association Ltd – has 100 full plots, a shop, meeting room, piped water, toilets, and a thriving ‘Fun Raisers’ club which raises money for local charities by providing teas, coffee and cakes every Sunday morning,
and also from events held throughout the year. It is a private allotment
site, some six acres owned by the Association and managed by a small team of volunteers. The centenary of its inception was celebrated in 2017. More details may be found on our website: www.aldershot-allotments.co.uk.
The Committee meet once a month
to discuss matters arising on the site, communication with plotholders etc. This is usually held in the meeting
room onsite but, due to the epidemic, meetings were held via Zoom. The AGM, usually held in March, was postponed. The early advice was limited to washing your hands, but the Fun Raisers decided it was too risky to continue with the
teas served from the shop and so these were discontinued from the 8th March and the shop closed. All the other events which had been planned: The Easter Event, The Open Day, Plant Sale, October Soup Kitchen and Christmas event were put on hold.
The community spirit which seems to abound in allotment sites came to the fore. Some kind neighbours helped to keep plots of the ‘shielding’ plotholders in check for their return at a later date. Although the social gatherings could not happen at this time of lockdown, allotment work meant that people
could get their exercise and have some socially distance contact with fellow gardeners across the site. It has now been acknowledged generally that working outside in green environments is good for mental wellbeing as well as for physical health.
FUNDRAISING
Although the decision to postpone all our events had been taken, people were already raising early vegetables, tomatoes, cuttings including 120 geraniums for our open day event. The Fun Raisers formed a ‘business plan’ to safely raise funds for the local charities without holding a single open day. For COVID-19 safety reasons, orders for plants were taken by email and logged by a nominated Fun Raiser. Growers were contacted, seeds were sown, and plants were raised in greenhouses, windowsills, bedrooms and spare rooms. When plant orders were ready for distribution, they were taken down early each morning to our community garden by the growers. The orders were delivered by a nominated Fun Raiser to allotments by wheelbarrow and the plotholders advised of the delivery. Suggested donations were issued and paid into a nominated bank account. The amount raised surpassed all our expectations and made it all worthwhile.
In July Sunday teas were resumed. The Fun Raisers arranged for tea, coffee and cake to be served outside, making sure we followed Covid guidance. Plants were also available. A minimum donation was suggested, which of course has resulted in more funds
Much kindness has been in evidence with members helping those who were forced to shield from Covid-19, the voluntary work from members who installed the kitchen and the untiring efforts of those who raised plants
being raised for the charities.
In anticipation of resuming a future indoor service, a recycled kitchen was donated by a committee member
and installed in the meeting room by members of our society. This involved
a considerable amount of planning, cutting and installing to fit. This means we can now use proper crockery and cutlery instead of disposables, satisfying Health and Safety legislation and eliminating unnecessary landfill from disposable cups.
One last mention of our fundraising
is that as our Sunday teas had been very successful due to the amazing generosity of our members we were
in a position to make considerable donations to our local nominated charities this year. We therefore decided to hold two extra events, one for the British Heart Foundation and a tea party in September specifically for the McMillan charity. A total of £4,000 was raised for our charities.
CONCLUSION
In an extremely challenging year, allotment gardening has proved to be a ‘lifesaver’ to many people for a variety of reasons. Much kindness has been
in evidence with members helping those who were forced to shield from COVID-19, the voluntary work from members who installed the kitchen and the untiring efforts of those who raised plants, transported them and thus raised funds for local charities, who will probably have suffered losses due to the epidemic. This was very much a team effort.
60 Allotment and Leisure Gardener