Santander Dig In for Listening Ear

Staff from Santander gave up their Friday to transform Listening Ear’s allotment at Halsnead School from a jungle to a gardener’s paradise earlier this month – with spectacular results! It was all part of Santander’s programme of ‘Discovery Days’, which encourages their staff to spend time with community groups in their locality.

Before the visit, the plot had become horribly overgrown, defeating the efforts of our Friendship After Bereavement Group which had been trying to keep on top of it.

Thanks to the help of Nuala Crothers, Jenny Crowley, John Collins, Dave Cator, Neil Lockwood, Ste Clayton, Keith Newman, Liam Nuttall and Steve Patterson from the Bootle branch of Santander, the plot emerged ready for planting.

After a few hours of gruelling effort, the team had begun to get the plot into shape.  By the end of the day, they’d removed over 30 bags of refuse and taken it to the recycling centre.

But it was all worth it in the end – the plot is now ready to welcome members of our FAB Group and children and young people from our Butterflies service.

Listening Ear’s Clinical Lead, Pat Woodhouse, said she was delighted with the result. “We’re grateful to the team from Santander for their time and effort in restoring our allotment. It’s fantastic to see companies supporting community activities like this and I’d like to thank everyone for all their hard work,” Pat said.