Our Endowment Fund in collaboration with Hertfordshire Community Foundation, helps support children, health and local community projects primarily within the geographic area of Hertfordshire but also Bedfordshire. One of our recent grants is helping to support local charity Open Door.
Open Door is a community-run space that is set up to serve the community of Berkhamsted and its surrounding villages, in essence the community helping itself. The reach of Open Door is extensive, bringing in customers from the surrounding towns of Tring, Chesham and Hemel Hempstead.
Open Door is open to all within the community and is particularly focused on dealing with isolation and social inequality. They provide these services in their premises and in their community garden when the weather permits. Open Door has developed the range of services that it offers in direct response to the requests and feedback that come from the community.
On Berkhamsted high street, Open Door has a beautiful "secret garden" at the back of the property. It provides the perfect place for the community to meet and to engage in a range of activities that are hosted by Open Door. There is no other place in Berkhamsted or the surrounding area quite like it.
Our grant of £4,800 will contribute towards phase one of Open Door’s seasonal work for their exciting ‘Community Garden Project’. This work will ensure the garden is not only beautiful and nurturing but also safe and as accessible as possible. The key purpose of the Community Garden is to provide space to bring the community together across a range of different activities, sharing the joys of a garden and of gardening. For many who may feel isolated or who suffer from social inequality, the garden will provide the stimulation and relaxation that can really make a difference. The project will be delivered in a safe and sustainable manner, working under the strapline of "Growing together”.
Open Door also hosts a range of different groups, including the Memory Cafe (for people suffering from dementia, Alzheimer's and other memory-related issues). They host a series of other isolation support groups, many of whom engage in activities. For example, Open Door has, for the last year, hosted a Berkhamsted Ukrainian Community Group plus their associated English lessons and have a series of food projects which not only tackle food wastage but deal with food poverty. Additionally, Open Door host a massively successful Repair Cafe once per month, where they not only repair and extend the life of items, but contribute significantly to reduced CO2 emissions and the prevention of items going to landfill.
We are delighted to help support the Community Garden Project for Open Door.
To find out more, you can visit Open Doors website here: https://www.opendoorberkhamsted.co.uk/
You can view all our recent grants to local charities on our Endowment Fund Page