Sunshine & Smiles gardening project
To create a garden for use by those with Down Syndrome and their families
Sunshine & Smiles is a charity which organises free groups and events to improve the lives and opportunities of children and families living with Down syndrome in Leeds. We are based at Stainbeck Community Hall which has a small garden. This space would be perfect for running groups for the children we support over the summer, giving them space to enjoy playing outside; many of those we support do not have their own gardens. It has been used in the past, however it has been left to become worn out and unsafe. We would love to see this become a green space again, and there is a fence and benches that could do with repainting and a sandpit that needs emptying and refilling. The charity is run by a small and very busy team, and we would love some help so that we could use this garden this summer. Any gardening expertise would be a bonus too!6 GoodGymers have supported Sunshine & Smiles gardening project with 3 tasks.
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Previous sessions
Painting the Town Blue!
Saturday 27th July
Written by Laura
This morning, 4 of us headed to Sunshine and Smiles in Stainbeck to continue the gardening which we have worked on throughout summer.
Helen got started removing the bind weed and weeding the alley whilst Jason and Christian weeded the main garden. I washed all the picnic benches and then Christian and I gave it a coat of blue paint.
Sunshine and Smiles is a fantastic charity which provides group support for children with Down syndrome.
Welcome to Jason who joined us for his first session today.
Ideologically opposed to Membrane
Saturday 27th April
Written by Helen Noyes
Two Leeds GoodGymers made their way to Stainbeck Community Hall to continue working on the Sunshine and Smiles garden. We were lucky enough to meet Sunshine and Smiles' co-founder, Ailith Harley-Roberts who has just joined the list of inspirational Leeds women whose names will adorn a new city centre sculpture called The Ribbons. This is to recognise her work supporting families in the city with children who have Down Syndrome. The garden will provide a safe space for families to come and spend time together. Today we were tasked with breaking up an old sandpit cover into small enough pieces ready to take to the tip, and also to clear an overgrown path leading to the rear garden. This entailed digging out weeds and pulling out old pieces of membrane which were no longer working to suppress the weeds. This is when Jubz announced he was ideologically opposed to membrane....he's been spending too much time at Bedford Fields! Once again there was plenty more work to complete than we had time for, so hopefully we'll be back soon.
Sand By Me
Sunday 7th April
Written by Laura
Today, 3 GoodGymers headed to Sunshine and Smiles to help sort out their garden for summer.
We emptied the sandpit, weeded, cleared webbing & did a general tidy up. There's much more to do so we're hoping to come back in a few weeks to do more. Hopefully we can get the garden in a decent state so that children who use the service can get out there safely this summer.
Sunshine & Smiles is a charity that provides a support network in Leeds for children and young people who have Down syndrome and their families.
Great work guys & thanks to Jubz who stayed for an extra hour to finish off.
