Following a nomination from Bedmax, Bell View, a community-based registered charity located in Belford, Northumberland, has received a grant of £3,000 from the Royal Warrant Holders Association (RWHA). This funding from The RWHA Charity Fund has been donated to help fix, repair, and improve the ‘Potting Shed’, which is part of a community gardening project.
Bedmax has held a Royal Warrant for 14 years and has provided regular ongoing commercial support and assistance to Bell View. Its support has helped the local charity produce its community newsletters, and in-kind donations and voluntary support.
On supplying the funding Claire Anderson, Charity Fund Manager for The RWHA said, “We are so pleased to support such a worthy Charity, helping the elderly in a rural community. We look forward to seeing the difference this wonderful project will make on the local community!”
Bell View’s fully accessible garden, the original “Workhouse” Garden, complete with five large, raised beds, a Potting Shed, poly-tunnel, and composting bins, utilises a disused sheltered walled area next to Bell View Resource Centre. The garden became neglected during the pandemic as the charity focussed its efforts on supporting the wider community of rural north Northumberland. Storm Arwen also caused further damage to the garden meaning high repair costs.
Juliet Short, Services Manager at Bell View, said: “We are delighted to have received this funding from the Royal Warrant Holders Association Charity Fund and can’t wait to get our hands dirty and get digging again! This money will be used to revitalise our garden and we also have ambitions to grow food, some sensory plants and to develop a small community allotment.”
Based in rural Northumberland, Bedmax began making purpose-made shavings for equine bedding in 2000. Today the company manufactures its products from dedicated production plants in Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, and Hampshire. Bedmax holds two Royal Warrants and is the first and only bedding manufacturer to achieve BETA NOPS bedding accreditation.
Tim Smalley, Managing Director of Bedmax said, “Bell View is a vital resource for the rural community here in north Northumberland and it’s one we are proud to have supported for a number of years now. To be able to utilise our Royal Warrant in this way is wonderful and it will be fantastic to see the garden up and running again.”
In addition to repairing and replenishing the garden, the funding will also be used to purchase specialised gardening equipment for beneficiaries who include small groups of people who are older and/or disabled. The garden is also used for intergenerational projects involving the local first school, and the eventual aim will be to use any produce grown in the garden in their cooking sessions and their Community Café.
