It’s always so great to see the impact our support for local charities and communities has as we continue into the new year. Recently, we returned to community interest company Living Potential to lay down two new concrete pathways. This increased accessibility for their wheelchair users, and alongside a new rainwater drainage system has been a welcome addition to the farm and the people they support.

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"At Living Potential Care Farm we teach adults and young people with physical and learning disabilities, autism and mental health issues. We teach small animal care, horticulture and a range of arts, crafts, cooking and life skills using the resources of the farm.

We have had an issue with our alpaca field being far too boggy for wheelchairs to get in and indeed, most of us, when there has been heavy rain. Thanks to Shanco, we now have drainage in that field and the heavy rains have been able to run off into the ponds. Good for the ducks, and the alpacas, sheep and people are grateful for not having soggy feet.

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We’ve also had a very rough walkway over to the compost toilet (which was also a Shanco gift), which has now got a beautiful, smooth concrete path for all users, particularly our wheelchair users. Likewise, the middle path onto the allotment was inaccessible to wheelchairs or those with mobility issues who had to go the long way around. Shanco have made it possible for us all to access the allotment easily. In fact, the paths are not completely smooth as Shanco made sure they were slightly ridged so that there were no issues with people slipping.

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We are incredibly grateful to Shanco for making these things possible and also for their incredibly good-natured workmen, working tirelessly in the rain and the cold – polite, friendly and respectful to our members, with smiles and always good humour. We were sorry to see them go but cannot say thank you enough for the week of work that they did here, it has been invaluable to us."

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Tanya - Director at Living Potential