B&Q Community Day in Stratford-upon-Avon
We were delighted to welcome the Stratford‑upon‑Avon B&Q branch to The Garden of Arden for a full volunteering day as part of B&Q’s Community Days programme. This initiative encourages B&Q teams across the country to step outside their stores and support local causes by giving their time, skills and practical help to community projects that make a difference.
Our charity received this support after creating a volunteer opportunity on Neighbourly, the platform that connects businesses with local organisations. The Stratford team chose Forest of Hearts as a cause they wanted to champion, and their decision brought not only a hardworking group of volunteers but also access to up to £1000 of donated B&Q materials to help us progress a new area of our nature reserve.
Their impact was immediate and impressive. The team created two new slabbed areas at The Garden of Arden, each designed to support the next chapter of our beekeeping project. One area will soon house our bee hives, ready for the arrival of new colonies that will help pollinate our site and eventually produce our own honey. The second slabbed space will hold a dedicated shed for all of the beekeeping equipment, giving us a safe and organised base for our volunteers and community groups who will help care for the bees.
The team didn’t stop there. They expertly assembled the shed itself, which had been generously donated to us by one of our volunteers. It now stands proudly in place, ready to be painted by our community group as part of their autumn activities. Their craftsmanship, teamwork and attention to detail have given us a structure that will serve our beekeeping project for years to come.
We want to give a massive thank you to the Stratford‑upon‑Avon B&Q team (Tom, Chloe, Jack, Dan & Katie) for their incredible generosity, enthusiasm and hard work. Their contribution has accelerated a part of our nature reserve development and created a space that will support biodiversity, education and community wellbeing. We are also deeply grateful to Neighbourly for providing the platform that made this partnership possible and for enabling charities like ours to connect with organisations who want to make a meaningful difference.
Thanks to B&Q’s support, our charity is one step closer to welcoming bees, producing honey and expanding the opportunities we offer to local groups who benefit from spending time in nature. Their Community Day has left a lasting mark on The Garden of Arden and on the people who will enjoy and learn from this space in the months and years ahead.
“We really enjoyed getting out into the local community and giving back to a local charity. It was a productive way to put our skills to good use, support a great cause and supply materials from our store to help the project, and it was brilliant to be with the team in a different environment and see all the amazing work Forest of Hearts are doing”