The staff at Dean’s Garden Centre York are celebrating a blossoming year of fundraising with a generous donation of over £16,000 to York-based charity York Mind. 

The local family business chose to support mental health throughout 2019, and raised the money by organising a range of opportunities for staff and customers to give; including a sell-out brass band concert at Stockton-on-Forest Village Hall in June, in-house quiz nights, collecting tins on the tills and prize grids in store. Between the York & Scarborough branches, the company has raised a huge £20,857.02 in total (with £4682.13 being donated to Scarborough, Whitby & Ryedale Mind). 

York Mind, which operates from Clifton, delivers a range of one to one and group based support for individuals aged 9 and above, were ‘over the moon’ to receive the donation.  

Whilst affiliating to the national ‘Mind’ brand, York Mind are financially independent from the main Mind charity, and therefore greatly rely on the support of local companies and people in the community in York to be able to continue & develop their life-changing work. This includes Counselling, Advocacy, Young People’s Services, Mental Health Training and a wide range of well-being activities designed to support better mental and emotional health. 

Laura Dean, Charity Co-ordinator at Dean’s Garden Centre, said: “We would like to thank all our customers, suppliers and staff members for their support in raising this fantastic amount of money, which will be used locally to support people suffering with mental health problems.”  

Holly Bilton, Fundraising Manager at York Mind, said: “The team at Dean’s have been such a pleasure to work with across the past year, and I am over the moon to celebrate their success with them. Their fundraising has been consistent and incredibly well-organised, and the fantastic total they have managed to raise for our services reflects the generosity and hard work of the close-knit staff team. Mental health problems are often ignored or misunderstood in our society; with the help of Dean’s Garden Centre, we hope to have reached a wider audience and helped more people to access support. On behalf of everyone at York Mind, we would like to thank colleagues for their enthusiasm and commitment towards better mental health in York.”