For those readers who haven’t heard about Five Acres Community Garden CIC we are a Day Respite Centre for School and College Leavers with Learning Difficulties. Phase 1: We opened in May last year when John & Julie Finley from ROF 59 offered us some rooms to hire in their fantastic Activity Centre. Initially we had only two Members and two Members of Staff – Donna Martin Centre Manager and Sam Dawson first Learning Mentor, both have previous experience in the Special Needs Sector – fast forward to January 2022 and we now have 28 ‘Champions’ and a further 4 full-time Staff Members plus an Apprentice.
We call our members ‘Champions’ as we feel it gives them empowerment and purpose.
Our ethos is for our Champions to enjoy their day while learning and engaging in activities in preparation for Adulthood. They enjoy Music, Zumba, Craft, Sensory Projects and Fitness Sessions as well as practical activities to help with literacy and numeracy skills. We also go offsite too and visit the local area.
We are on Durham County Councils list of providers for Day Respite and are now a Commissioned Day Service with Darlington Borough Council.
We have forged friendships with other local Community Groups including Community Spirit, Crafters Companions, PCP, All Disability Matters, Aycliffe Radio – CAFÉ JJ’s, Morrisons and Middlesbrough FC. We have completed Defib Training with David Sutton Lloyd too and we are part of the ‘Keep Aycliffe Tidy’ Campaign.
We have a fantastic facility at ROF 59 that can adapt to any occasion and we have held various events such as Party in the Park, Ladies Night and Christmas Fayre. We’ve also hosted a Big Brew Coffee Morning on behalf of SSAFA to raise money for their veterans. We want our Champions to be included in all aspects of our Community and Local Projects.
On 19th August we celebrated our ‘Grand Opening’ and Paul Howell MP for Sedgefield did the honours of officially opening the Centre. We took on our first Apprentice ‘Joseph Carrick’ who is now enrolled on a Health & Social Care Course.
We have received a grant from The Happiness Hub (PCP) for a Polytunnel and Potting Shed. Husqvarna have kindly donated workwear and gardening tools. The Rotary Club have donated Chrome Books for our IT Suite. TESCO’s sponsor us with Fresh Fruit and Breakfast essentials. Community Spirit have also donated towards Cookery items and Bakeware as in December we joined forces with Mr & Mrs Claus ‘Aka Nev & Jo Jones’ and helped with their Santa Tours.
To top off 2021 we were honoured to receive an ‘Investing in Children Membership Award’ which we are thoroughly proud of.
Phase 2 is now underway, an additional Day Centre to run alongside ROF 59 – we intend to create a Community/Sensory Garden to include Horticulture/Agriculture with Respite Lodges at Lime Lane, Brafferton. The Planning Application is now ‘live’ and can be viewed on the Darlington Borough Council Website – search for ‘Planning Applications Online’ – Ref No is 21/00753/FUL.
If anyone would like to support our application please email your letters to planning@darlington.gov.uk stating your name and address and the Reference Number above.
The Staff at Five Acres are passionate and focused on delivering the best outcome for our young adults – It has been a truly amazing 8 months – Thank You All for Supporting us on our Journey.