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Exciting news from Hands of Hope…

Sosi in the Hope Farm Organic Produce Shop which has now closed.

Our very own, on-site, organic farm shop is now open here at Hope Farm Gardens (starting 14th July 2023)

The shop is open on Fridays from 10 – 4pm.  

Brimming with produce this is the best place to buy fresh, seasonal, organic fruit and vegetables.

We sell fruit and vegetables harvested from the Farm, and will even pop down to the field to pick while You wait !

Picking up a jute bag packed with organic, seasonal produce is a great way to start the weekend.

  • Enter through the  gates of our organic enterprise and a whole new world of food production, educational and community activities becomes apparent.
  • Each area of the smallholding demonstrates our commitment to providing natural, nutritious food in a sustainable, environmentally-friendly way.
  • The  fruit trees in our orchard provide wide variety of apples,  with the assistance of the bees from the hives that also give us honey to sell in the site shop.
  • A peaceful area on site featuring our new pond with benches – a good book is all you need for a relaxed afternoon.
  • A large Greenhouse enables us to protect and enlarge the growing season for many of our root crops and salad items.
  • Visit our Forest School, a child-centred inspirational learning process, that offers opportunities for holistic growth through regular sessions.  It is a long-term program that supports play, exploration and supported risk taking.  It develops confidence and self-esteem through learner inspired, hands-on experiences in a natural setting.
  • Relax in our tranquil outdoor café with tea/ coffee and homemade scones and cakes made by our volunteers.
  • The centre is already the focal point for a number of community and educational activities and will become an increasingly important facility for all age groups in the years to come.

We look forward to seeing you there

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WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH “GET GROWING”

Growing Kit

Dear All

Wire Fence are a specialist fencing supplier who are giving away all of their daily profits on the 26th October for National Pumpkin Day to a gardening charity that receives the most votes through their voting platform. We are advertised on the page and it could be worth £1000 towards Get Growing which would pay for 100 Grow Kits.

Get Growing provides families, lone residents, early years, schools and residential care settings with equipment and support to grow their own food, helping tackle food poverty & reduce food waste. We are currently raising funds to allow us to continue this amazing project and your vote could make the difference.

Please click on the word Charities (below) and vote for Hands of Hope 🙂

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Organic Fruit & Veg – End of Season

Dear All

A quick email to confirm that all Fruit & Veg box deliveries will cease as of end of September 2022. Friday 30th of September will be the last of the deliveries for this year. Due to the cost of living crisis, we have decided that the remainder of the year our produce will go to Food Banks and people in need in our community.

In the meantime – we have an array of delicious colourful veg that need a home – please order your box for delivery this Friday and every Friday until 30th of September.

We will resume again next year …

On behalf of everyone here at Hands of Hope, we would like to THANK YOU all for your continued support and look forward to seeing you next year.

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Hands of Hope Charity Volunteers have been awarded The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

Hands of Hope has received The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service

Hands of Hope charity Volunteers have been awarded The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. This is the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in the UK and is equivalent to an MBE.

Set up in 2016 by the current Trustees and still run by them, for the last couple of years, Hands of Hope have welcomed volunteers to support them in the preservation and conservation of Hope Farm Community Garden – a 22-acre site in Hawkhurst, located on the Kent and East Sussex Border which includes 2 large market gardens, a heritage orchard, a small gill wood and two large wildflower meadows.

Delivering horticulture, rural craft, and nature-based activities to mitigate food poverty as well as improving physical and mental health outcomes, we are one of 244 local charities, social enterprises, and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year.

Our work, along with others from across the UK, reminds us of all the ways in which fantastic volunteers are contributing to their local communities and working to make life better for those around them.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by local volunteer groups to benefit their communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate The Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Recipients are announced each year on 2nd June, the anniversary of The Queen’s Coronation.

Award winners this year are wonderfully diverse. They include volunteer groups from across the UK, including: a rural support group for farmers in Shropshire; a community magazine addressing isolation in the Western Isles; a running club engaging all ages in County Tyrone; a film academy and community hub based in South Wales, and a food bank in Greater London feeding vulnerable individuals and providing training opportunities.

Representatives of Hands of Hope will receive their award and certificate later this summer. In addition, two volunteers from the charity will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2023 along with other recipients of this year’s Award.

James Doran, founder of Hands of Hope, commented: ‘Anybody who visits Hope Farm Community Garden can feel it’s a special place, but it wouldn’t be anything without our volunteers. It’s an honour of the highest order to receive this award and pay tribute to all the hard work and commitment of everybody who has helped our journey so far.’

ABOUT HANDS OF HOPE

Hands of Hope (HOH) is a small, community-based charity set up in 2016. Currently developing Hope Farm Community Garden, a no-dig, organic walled market garden and 22 acres of AONB land in Hawkhurst, West Kent, we deliver horticulture and nature-based activities aimed at tackling food poverty, rural isolation & loneliness as well as improving physical and mental health. We connect communities to nature and each other – “Growing Together; Building Communities.”

www.hohcharity.co.uk

For more information, please contact info@hohcharity.co.uk

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Summer is here in our strawberry fields

Hands of Hope Strawberries – Delicious, chemical free, harvested same day of delivery.

Being part of Hands of Hope charity is about much more than flavoursome organic food. 

Every box full of goodness you purchase helps to combat:-  

  • Food poverty – donating weekly to food banks in our community.
  • Loneliness – running 2 monthly lunch club for all ages with entertainment.    
  • Mental Health – our social and therapeutic group delivers weekly sessions helping support the more vulnerable individuals in our community.

We also provide educational experiences and activities for the wider community, to help people develop their growing abilities, alongside community cohesion and members share traditional skills such as woodworking, hedge laying, bodging, pole lathing and bee keeping as well as using their expertise to restore and improve the physical environment of the site whilst creating a shared space to improve general wellbeing.

All based at our garden in Hawkhurst.

Support us by visiting www.hohcharity.co.uk/shop and subscribe to make a difference.

Thank you.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

                               

          

  

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We are increasing our Prices

Here’s what you need to know

  • The Increase will be between 5% – 7% depending on the product
  • The Increase affects NON-SUBSCRITION Customers ONLY.
  • All Products on our website will reflect the new price
  • Everything else is staying the same

Sign up for a weekly/ bi weekly SUBSCRIPTION and save on your order.

What’s in your bag this week

Large Veg Box – https://www.hohcharity.co.uk/product/seasonal-organic-fruit-veg-box-large/#contents

Medium Veg Box – https://www.hohcharity.co.uk/product/seasonal-organic-veg-box-medium/#contents

Small Veg Box – https://www.hohcharity.co.uk/product/seasonal-organic-veg-box-small/#contents

Large Fruit & Veg Box – https://www.hohcharity.co.uk/product/seasonal-organic-fruit-veg-box-large/#contents

Medium Fruit & Veg Box – https://www.hohcharity.co.uk/product/seasonal-organic-fruit-veg-box-medium/#contents

Small Fruit & Veg Box – https://www.hohcharity.co.uk/product/seasonal-organic-fruit-veg-box-small/#contents

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What’s in your organic bag this week…

Fresh Fruit & Vegetables

Thank you for your continued support

Large Veg Box – https://www.hohcharity.co.uk/product/seasonal-organic-fruit-veg-box-large/#contents

Medium Veg Box – https://www.hohcharity.co.uk/product/seasonal-organic-veg-box-medium/#contents

Small Veg Box – https://www.hohcharity.co.uk/product/seasonal-organic-veg-box-small/#contents

Large Fruit & Veg Box – https://www.hohcharity.co.uk/product/seasonal-organic-fruit-veg-box-large/#contents

Medium Fruit & Veg Box – https://www.hohcharity.co.uk/product/seasonal-organic-fruit-veg-box-medium/#contents

Small Fruit & Veg Box – https://www.hohcharity.co.uk/product/seasonal-organic-fruit-veg-box-small/#contents