A team of 7 staff from Fidelity International’s retirement service centre recently volunteered to transform the garden and produce-growing area at Pan Together’s Downside Community Centre in Newport.
Based at St Cross Business Park in Newport, Fidelity International chose Pan Together as 1 of their 3 Island charities at the end of last year. Not only have they made a very kind donation of £1,000 to the charity – which exists to support and provide a community hub for the residents of the Pan and Barton areas – but they’ve also made several generous donations of food and other household essentials to support Pan Together’s increasingly essential community support services.
Rachel Thomson, Community Centre Manager, has said:
“Our mission is to improve the conditions of life for local residents and thanks to the hard graft of their volunteers, Fidelity International staff have helped us towards that goal. Having a neat and tidy outside space is a real boost, which will make a difference to many people’s lives.
“Having identified the growing need in Autumn 2021, our community and anti-poverty support services are (sadly) increasingly essential to local residents. The cost of living crisis is biting hard. No-one should face going hungry. No one should have to choose between food, fuel and children’s clothes. Funding and support like that provided by Fidelity International are vital so we can continue our on-going work as the hardships of the coming winter become a grim daily reality for many households”.
Amanda Mitchell, who heads up Fidelity International’s Fundraising Committee on the Island, adds:
“We all had a great time gardening at the community centre, which is at the heart of Pan – though we were definitely aching the following day! As well as mowing the grass, cutting hedges and tidying three raised beds, we were particularly pleased to remove the small forest of saplings which had sprung up following the pollarding of a large tree – and then planted bulbs around it. We’re really proud that we can support such a worthwhile local charity and long may this continue”.
