Kendal businesses urged to volunteer to improve local garden

The volunteer effort will be a part of 'Give a Day to Kendal' taking place between September 25 and 29, an event organised by Gateway Church to encourage locals to take time out of their lives and help the community.

Their focus this year is on work being done for residents with learning difficulties moving into supportive living accommodation on Shap Road.

Reverend Jonny Gios said: "Volunteers are vital for what we're trying to achieve.

"We're not asking for £500 donations or anything like that, but for people with the necessary expertise and equipment to get involved."

ISL, the owners of the building, are looking to transform the current greenspace into a vegetable patch for residents to work on.

"A lot of the people living there are really restricted from getting out, so this would give them the opportunity to do that," he said.

"They'd also get to see the benefits of growing producing, ultimately paying back the charity of the community."

The garden will be used by people with learning difficulties (Image: Jonny Gios)The hope is that equipment can be provided to get the job done, including a digger, a skip, and paving slabs.

"We're really desperate, especially for local businesses involved in construction to hear our pleas," Reverend Gios added.

"At the moment, all I've got a spade, so I'm not going to be much help."

The premise of 'Give a Day to Kendal', approaching its second year, is to eventually become a self-sustaining practise in the community.

"What we'd really want is for businesses to see this as an annual thing where they decide to give their staff a day off to take part in volunteer efforts," said Rev Gios.

"People are always complaining about councillors not fixing things in the area, so this is a way of changing that mindset and encouraging people to get their own hands dirty."

People who are able to help should email Hello@gatewaychurchkendal.org.