24 Jun London Southend Airport donates £1000 to Rawcous
A community allotment in Southchurch is being established by Rawcous with the help of London Southend Airport funding.
The allotment is part of the Eastern Avenue Allotments in Southchurch and was obtained by Rawcous to provide a safe space with plant and vegetable growing opportunities under its company objectives.
Designed to offer a calming and relaxing space for the community, the allotment will provide a sense of well-being and mindfulness to support families and local groups.
Rawcous is a registered CIC (Community Interest Company) that develops positive projects that benefit the SEND (Special Educational Needs & Disabilities) community in Southend.
Its objective is to make a difference to children and young people’s lives by addressing the challenges that they face. Rawcous CIC’s activities will see children and their families build their resilience by empowering them to re-build their self-esteem, skills, and confidence.
Despite the pandemic, works are in full swing onsite; the existing allotment building has been transformed with a full refurbishment of a large shed. A new lean-to and fence barrier funded by Southend Airport Community Fund is being sourced which, once complete, will be followed by works commencing on the vegetable patches.
Glyn Jones, CEO London Southend Airport, “It has been an incredibly tough year for all, if there is something to take from lockdown it is to enjoy our local areas, value outside spaces, learn new skills such as growing vegetables and support each other. The allotment does all these things and symbolises new shoots of growth and hope for many. Congratulations to the Rawcous team for their continued hard work, we look forward to seeing the end result”.
Maggie Cleary, Director of Rawcous CIC, “Many of our Special Education Needs & Disabilities (SEND) families will benefit from the allotment. The space will provide a calm and safe area to come together. Gardening & being around nature & the outdoors, can result in significant improvements in both self-esteem, mood, tension, depression & anxiety. Many SEND children & young people have comorbid conditions like anxiety, so we hope to extend this invitation to other local SEND groups to join us and reap the benefits. It is hard work but seeing the community work together is fantastic, it wouldn’t have been possible without the airport support, things are progressing, and the space is near completion – we hope to open the allotment in the next few weeks.”
