Category: PGSD

It marks the day World War One ended, at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month, back in 1918. Nowadays, people remember those who were lost in the war by holding a two-minute silence and by wearing a red poppy.

The first two-minute silence in Britain was held on 11th November 1919, when King George V asked the public to observe a silence at 11am. This was one year after the end of World War One. He made the request so “the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead”.

Often, hedges are visual features of surrounding grounds and make a real impact on how the landscape looks. Shaping a hedge is generally only limited by a hedge’s type, size and imagination. The reasons to keep them maintained are not only aesthetic but can be legal too.

Legislation around high hedges and hedge trimming gives a degree of responsibility to ensure that it is properly maintained. This includes ensuring that the hedge is kept tidy and at an appropriate height, that it is maintained by the professional company, and that any trimming is done at the right time of year so that it will not affect local wildlife. It is an offence to intentionally damage or destroy a wild bird’s nest while it is being built or in use.

Abundance London is a community project based in Chiswick, West London, run by volunteers on a not-for-profit basis. They run environmental, educational projects. They started off harvesting the seasonal glut of local fruit, then they also began to guerilla gardens, abandoned patches and flower beds, they now also organise art projects. They are not paid, and any money goes directly back into their projects.

We helped with the planting of the hedge, with over 500 trees covering a length of 140m. The new hedge was planted along Burlington Lane and has linked existing fragments of shrub left behind from an earlier hedge that had slowly disappeared. Due to the composition of the hedge, which included a high proportion of thorny hawthorn and dog rose, it was dubbed the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ Hedge. All involved volunteers from local community had to follow our team and their very speedy pace.

It was great to be a part of this initiative to green our local area!

County Care is a charity which provides young people who have learning difficulties with opportunities to volunteer in the community. The scheme they have set up at St Paul’s Church is for the young people to use their grounds to grow vegetables and raised beds. They have a community café which provides free food for those in need and takes clients from their local Foodbank too.  County Care are hoping that some of the vegetables grown will supply the café so the young people can feel that they are making a real contribution to helping some of the most vulnerable people in their community.

We helped by providing tools and a chest to keep them in. We hope that our contribution made a difference in their planning stage and for the young people.

‘What goes around comes back around’.

Donations we made to Help for Heroes and The Police Dependants’ Trust contribute to the rehabilitation and support to some of the bravest in our society. Independence is one of the greatest gifts that could be possibly provided.

Help for Heroes supports those with injuries and illnesses attributable to their service in the British Armed Forces. No matter when someone served, they believe that those prepared to put their lives second, deserve a second chance at life. Every course and activity they offer aims to empower them to look beyond illness and injury, regain their purpose, reach their potential and have a positive impact on society. Anyone can help to reduce the time it’s taking Veterans to come forward and help end mental health stigma by:

• Sharing across social media channels and spread the message that Heroes are not alone
• Donating and cutting the clock before it’s too late
• Fundraising and showing support for Heroes in local community.

The Police Dependants’ Trust exists as an independent charity that provides a confidential programme of practical, emotional, and financial support for serving and former police officers and staff who have suffered harm as a result of their policing role. Since the 1960’s they have provided financial support to police officers and their families. The Trauma Resilience in UK Policing project explores how to better support the brain’s ability to process trauma exposure and maintain resilience by:

• Preventative techniques to help process trauma exposure post-incident
• Resilience training skills
• Trauma Management Survey
• Understanding atypical trauma and high-risk roles.

Remembrance is part of modern British life, culture and heritage.

After the First World War, the poppy was adopted as a symbol of Remembrance and hope. Its colour is red because of the natural colour of field poppies.

The Two Minute Silence, held each year at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, marks the end of the First World War in 1918.

There are more than 100,000 war memorials in the UK. They take many forms, including cenotaphs, plaques, gardens and books.

We made sure that all the plants are ready for 2018 Remembrance Day to honour those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to secure and protect our freedom.

Cranford Community College, one of our important customers, has a mission of ‘Transforming a Community’. They ensure that the young people of Cranford and its surrounding areas achieve as highly as possibly in every educational and social field.

Their Sports Facilities include 3G full size football pitch which is a great alternative for an outdoor football field. Thanks to their generosity PGSD spent a very enjoyable afternoon playing football and even scoring! 11 times in total!

For game purposes only, PGSD was divided into two teams, working at schools and working at the council, their families were cheering for them:

P for Passion!

G for Growth!

S for Support!

D for Dedication!

They say that ‘In football match, everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team’, but I think you should just keep calm and act like you know what you’re doing..

At PGSD we believe we can do better than only “liking” and “sharing” a charity’s campaign. In the last few months we have supported two brilliant organisations: Sense and Great Ormond Street Hospital. Supporting with actual financial contributions, naturally rises up from the usual social media clutter to truly create meaningful content.

Sense is a national disability charity that supports people with complex communication needs to be understood, connected and valued. They began, and continue, to support people who are deafblind. Today, they also support a wide range of people with complex communication needs. Whilst they prefer not to use labels, sometimes, they can help people to understand the wide range of individuals that Sense supports:

• Deafblind, dual-sensory impairment or multi-sensory impairment
• Single sensory impairment with additional needs
• Complex needs, which may include sensory impairments, additional learning or physical disabilities, or autism.

Great Ormond Street Hospital has always depended on charitable donations to give seriously ill children the chance of a better future. Every day 618 children and young people from across the UK arrive at the hospital. Their charity supports the hospital and young patients by funding four key areas:

• Rebuilding and refurbishment
• Support for families and children
• Research into children’s health
• Life-saving medical equipment.