Page 59 - ALG Issue 4 2022

Beverley Park Allotments Open Afternoon
We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon in early July when we opened our site to the public. It was a glorious day, sunny but not too hot, and lots of people came – always a worry that they won’t! We had a well-stocked plant stall, refreshments with delicious homemade cakes, a book stall, and the site looked great; everyone made a great effort. We were entertained by the New MUGs, a local ukulele group who are very popular.
Many of the visitors had no idea that our allotment site existed. They seemed impressed with the site, were very interested, and they certainly seemed to enjoy their visit.
We are a very small voluntary managed site, approximately 20 full plots, in New Malden
on the South London/Surrey border, tucked away in the corner of a park – a ‘secret garden’ indeed.
We had decided to raise funds for the Hartley Trust Education Foundation, a school in Ghana set up by one of our plotholders, David, almost 30 years ago.
David was working in Ghana and saw a group of children and an adult sitting under a lone tree
in the bush. This was their school and when it rained there could be no school. He decided to try to build them a school, and after he and his family and friends raised funds, he had enough to buy a small piece of land and planned to build a basic school room.
At the time David worked for British Airways. They supported the project and wrote about
it in their in-flight magazine and, as luck
would have it, a solicitor from Morecombe in Lancashire read the article. The solicitor was the executor of the estate of a rich man who wished to leave his wealth to charities in Africa. They met in London and David was asked what he would do if money was no object, then the solicitor offered to fund David’s dream: the purchase of further land and the building of a ‘proper’ school which is now called: The Hartley Trust Foundation School.
From a group of children sitting under a tree the school grew to 500 pupils and over 40 staff and has been a great success. Three of the pupils are now doctors in America. David is still very involved with the day-to-day affairs of the school, usually visits several times a year, and speaks to the staff daily.
Sadly they have suffered considerably during Covid, so when our Allotment Association decided to give this year’s profits from our open afternoon to charity, David’s school was the obvious choice. David and his family were at the open afternoon to talk to visitors, with a display of photographs and newspaper articles about his school going back over the years.
People were so generous and, much to our surprise, we raised £1046 for the school. David plans to use the money to pay for repairs to the school bus, which collects the pupils each day from far and wide.
He has promised us a sign on the bus: Beverley Park Allotments, New Malden, England!
Donations would be gratefully received by the school. Please contact David Mustill for further information about the Hartley Trust Foundation School.
Tel: 07480 670579 or email dg.mustill@btinternet.com