April 2021 has been another busy month which started with our tree planting day. Staff, volunteers and local people came together to plant almost 400 trees on the disused land next to the metro station. A mix of native trees were planted, including oak trees which were supplied through the Save The Oaks Campaign.

It was great to see so many people getting involved.

Some people dedicated trees with personalised messages, we can't wait to see the woodland develop over the coming years to create a new biodiverse habitat.

Talking of biodiversity, our Community Beekeeping Project started their new basic beekeeping course and after initial sessions held remotely they were finally able to get hands on with the bees in late April.

We also offered a range of fun Easter activities to local children including a popular Easter Trail and our Easter bunnies went out and about delivering chocolate eggs to local families thanks to a donation from Capita.

We've been busy undertaking repairs to the centre whilst there's been fewer people about including new flooring in our community space - Room 25 and our Facilities Coordinator Norman has been busy freshening up lots of spaces with a fresh cost of paint.

We were finally able to install the new sign made by our brilliant volunteer Fran to show people the way to our community garden area. It's really striking and we're sure it'll help people learn about our garden space and be curious to visit.

We were able to allow our Positive Pathways group to meet up safely in the gardens at the end of April and we are thrilled to see more people in the centre every day. We have taken all precautions to keep people safe including regular testing for our staff, track and trace records, masks to be worn indoors, social distancing, ventilation and hand hygiene monitored.

We can't wait to share with you our plans for May as we know there's lots of great things in planning.