FRIENDS OF THE FOREST GARDEN

One dreary aspect of the work we do is spending too much time in front of a computer screen writing grant applications. Funding is getting harder for all charities although the applications forms remain as much fun as ever! At the forest garden we don’t want to be totally reliant on funders, so we charge schools for our services and work with them to find ways to help them pay for our work. 35% of our income is self generating. But we will always need extra funds to pay for essential core costs like wages, rent, insurance and other glamorous things to make the garden tick.
We’ve been going over 20 years and have got an impressive track record. Now we are beginning to be able to offer pupils the chance to get qualifications, our work has become even more important.
So this is where you come in. To save us from endless grant applications and monitoring forms how about becoming a Friend of the Forest Garden? A standing order each month, no matter how small, will make a big difference to what we do and let us get on with working with pupils. We aren’t a big charity. None of us are on a big wage. We don’t have an office. Our overheads are low. Our advertising budget is zero. We rely on goodwill and freebies and some fantastic volunteers to get by. That’s not to say we aren’t professional! 
If you become a Friend not only will you get that warm feeling of making a big difference, but you will be the first to find out details of our events and get an invite to our Christmas party where it always snows!
If you don’t want to make a standing order, but have some great ideas for fundraising, want to put on a benefit gig or run the Brighton Marathon for us, then please get in touch. You can also sponsor Wilf who is riding from London to Brighton on the 8th September for the garden.