A ‘Kindness Pot' set up by a Bradford-based garden centre group has supported over 200 local causes and donated over £11,000 since launch.

The Yorkshire Garden Centres (YGC) initiative was established in 2022 to support local causes nominated by team members at the group's sites throughout West Yorkshire.

In the last year, Otley Garden Centre donated over 500 spring flower bulbs to Ashlands Primary School in Otley. The bulbs were used to plant in the school, and lesson plans were created around the bulbs to aid the pupils' writing, numeracy and art skills.

The 'Kindness Pot' also gifted a selection of gardening equipment to support Maggies Yorkshire with their garden maintenance, on behalf of Joyce Ho, House Plants & Giftware Assistant, at Tong Garden Centre. Cancer patient Joyce wanted to give something back to the charity that provides a peaceful and calm place for people with cancer to stay.

Earlier this year, Bingley Garden Centre gifted summer bedding plants to Manorfields Hospice to brighten the garden ahead of their summer garden party. Support for Manorfields was pledged by several team members at Bingley who have benefited from the support of the hospice.

Team members at Tingley Garden Centre volunteered their time as part of the Kindness Pot to help plant the Rob Burrow Memorial Garden at Headingley designed by Group Commercial Plant Manager, Marc Salama after the centre was approached by Leeds Rhinos to create a floral memorial for their former player.

"With our roots in Yorkshire, we believe in giving back, whether to our group-wide charity of the year or local causes that matter to our growing team. We want to support the causes that mean something to our team, and anyone can make a Kindness Pot request for support. Our sense of community has really been reinforced by being able to support so many worthy causes, and we're looking forward to launching the Kindness Pot to the teams at the two new Yorkshire Garden Centres family members, Dean's York and Scarborough next year," said Neil Barwise-Carr, Head of People and Culture.

This year's beneficiary of the Charity of the Year fundraising pot is Yorkshire Children's Charity. Through a series of fund-raising events and collection boxes at the tills, the teams at Yorkshire Garden Centres hope to raise £20,000 for the independent charity which aims to transform childhoods and improve the lives of thousands of disadvantaged children in Yorkshire. In just three months, the team has raised over £7,000 through a sponsored bike ride, bake sales, planting workshops and team raffles. To contribute to Yorkshire Garden Centres' fundraising, please visit https://bit.ly/YGCYCC.

Since Tong Garden Centre was acquired in 2015, the team and supporters have raised over £80,000 for charity. Previous beneficiaries of the Charity of the Year initiative include Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Forget Me Not Children's Hospice, Luke's Lads, Butterflies Mental Health, The Cellar Trust, Candlelighters and National Literacy Trust.