When Wennington Hall school closed, the Arkholme CofE Primary School PTFA was lucky enough to manage to get hold of their observatory equipment during the disposals phase. The aim was to put the observatory building, which is a very large shed that has a custom sliding back roof, with the three telescopes, in the Arkholme Village Hall field and let the local Lune Valley Cluster of eleven schools, as well as other schools and groups, come to use it for dark skies science and astronomy nights and also astro photography sessions too. It was a huge STEM based opportunity that smaller schools do not get often.
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They raised the funds to put up the observatory building and had the area for it agreed with the Arkholme Village Hall trustees. However they still needed to get the remote controlled 400mm main telescope serviced and back up and running as it had not been used for 3 years, and all three telescopes needed to be professionally cleaned and calibrated. We were more than happy to help with this and the results being shown by the year 3 and 5 pupils who were the first to use them speak for themselves.

​They provide: Learning opportunities that improve health, wellbeing and employment prospects - Their Learning Kitchen is a hub for learning life skills and their weekly Skills Café hosts workshops on topics to broaden clients’ horizons. Regular gardening, kitchen and cleaning crews and free use of IT engage service users; Practical material assistance to address urgent physical needs - They facilitate doctor's appointments, provide shower facilities, laundry, and food parcels. Nurse practitioner surgeries, foot and eye surgeries; an emergency homeless POD is available for one-off accommodation; Compassion, acceptance and positive role models for social and emotional wellbeing - Drop-in sessions three days a week where listening, mentoring, counselling and community lunches are available; a Women’s group is held weekly and trainee counsellor sessions are offered; Advice, assistance and advocacy on housing and money matters to improve housing security - Advisors give advice on the right benefits, form filling and explaining letters; advocacy for clients to benefits agencies, landlords & utility companies; signpost and advocate to partner agencies such as debt relief agencies and the local council.
The PC laptop was needed for their new Benefits & Client Support Advisor, so we were happy to help such a vital community organisation!

In conjunction with a community initiative from local charity shop 3R who have donated £250 to the school fund, the Buddy Bench will be installed in the school playground as a way for students to signal to others that they are feeling lonely and isolated and need a friend to play with or someone to talk to.

The idea of a Buddy Bench began in 2013, when a school pupil in the USA named Christian Bucks came to his teachers with his thoughts. He envisioned a specially designated seat in the school's playground where students could go if they did not have anybody to play with or if they wanted someone to talk to.
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Head Teacher, Paul Bowden, hopes that the Buddy Bench will bring kindness and thought to the playground, enabling children to care for others when someone is feeling they need support.

They run holiday clubs where students can come and learn first hand about conservation and animal welfare, but as these have become more popular and the groups are getting bigger they no longer fitted in their small indoor classroom. They now have a lovely new big marquee with loads of space!

The grant was used to buy the 4 team members (age 16-18 years) new hardline curling brushes to support them on their journey to the World Championship.

This comprises a Grade II listed working watermill, producing specialist stoneground flours, operated by the only millwright and miller in the north of the UK. There is a community barn, re-purposed as an educational, arts and rural workspace where a year-round education and events programme takes place for all sectors of the community. The site also houses a 100kW hydropower turbine, producing green energy, situated on the weir of the River Bela, on which the mill stands that provides their only core income, and means the site is currently off-grid. With many well-established and successful educational projects for the elderly, children, teenagers and community baking groups, plus visiting school, college and university groups, Heron Corn Mill has become an exemplary model of good practice and sustainability.
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They came to us and explained that the existing bread oven range in their purpose-built shepherds hut bakery was over 10 years old and no longer working properly. The bakery and ovens are regularly used by 3 community bread groups and over this time this has added up to more than 2000 people, including the elderly, some with dementia, young people and a teenage group who bake to improve their mental health. We were very happy to help with a new one, and had to say the results looked and smelled fantastic!

They run low-cost, weekly food schemes that help their members to save money on food, making the cost of living more affordable for those in the community on a tight budget.
Following local consultation and in partnership with other services they recently opened a new Food Club to meet the demand in the Carnforth area. Members pay £5 each week to receive a large bag of shopping worth approximately £25.
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In order to transport and store perishable foods stuffs safely they needed catering cool storage boxes as well as extra shelving and heavy duty folding trestle tables to display food options safely for their members, something we were more than happy to help with.

Key events include a halloween celebration, Santa’s grotto and Christmas crafts at the Gregson Community and Arts Centre. They also hold flagship outreach events including a Santa float that travels around local streets visiting local families and a lantern procession, bonfire and firework display. They exist to put on inspiring events for their community in Bulk ward in Lancaster which is amongst the 10% most deprived wards in the UK.
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They have previously borrowed a generator for their community programmes such as the Santa float and the bonfire / firework display but have had issues and breakdowns. They explained to us that the generator would be used to power the sound and lighting systems and if they had their own it would open the way to allow them to put on more outdoor events in the community if they could provide safe lighting for example.

He was responsible for many famous gardens including Brockhole, Graythwaite Hall, Dyffryn, Rydal Hall, Southport Marine Lake and about 250 other gardens, town plans and international works including the Peace Gardens of the Hague.
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The 5 acre garden sits close to Jenny Brown's Point, Silverdale. It was laid out in the 1920s, then largely abandoned in the 1980s but has been undergoing an informed and careful restoration over the last 10 years. The Garden is also a venue on the Arnside and Silverdale Art Trail, both in its own right and as a wonderful setting for the display of others works of art. They approached us for a grant to allow them to purchase a 48v heavy duty cordless brushcutter which is vital for the maintenance of the gardens.

They try to alleviate animal's distress, supress cruelty and educate the public about the welfare needs of animals.

They had been using small individual carpet samples from local carpet retailers for bedding for the cats in their cattery, but had been finding that these were harder to obtain as they are now recycled more. They are also not really washable.
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Our grant has enabled them to buy specialist fleece vet bedding, which is washable and can be reused many times over, so is a cost effective investment in the long run. The fleece is vet approved, non-pilling and non-toxic, so it is safe and ensures that the cats are kept warm and cosy in their individual rooms until Animal Care can find them new loving forever homes.
Steph from Animal Care also told us that having this grant also frees up funds for other items such as specialist dog food for Greyhounds (of which they have several) which is much harder to request grants for.