News

With Ward’s help, Umbrella, a local charity supporting disabled children and young adults in Derby City and Southern Derbyshire, has realised its ambitious plans to create a beautiful outdoor space for people to enjoy.

Umbrella took over the lease of the Rykeneld Community Centre in 2020, which was renamed the Annie Hall Centre in memory of a beloved Trustee. In addition to renovating the centre to a high spec, the plans included the creation of a fully-accessible allotment and activity garden, where visitors could spend more time outdoors, growing fruit and vegetables, creating veg boxes to sell and enjoying outside arts and crafts sessions.

Ward teamed up with the charity earlier this year, donating three free skips that could be used to complete the project on time and to a high specification. By providing the skips without cost, all donations could be used directly to support 600 children and young adults living with physical, mental, sensory and life-limiting conditions. 

The charity proudly completed the Woodland Garden project this summer, which now offers an abundance of natural space, including raised planters and bird boxes, where plants and wildlife are encouraged to thrive. 

Ann Rowlands, Chief Executive of Umbrella, said:

“Ward’s incredible support during the project was invaluable. The provision of these skips for free meant we could remove waste from the site with ease, completing the project on time and to a high spec. 

More importantly, the vital charity donations we received could be used to directly benefit the children and young adults who so need our help. We’re so happy with our gorgeous outdoor space and we look forward to enjoying it for many years to come.”

Donald Ward, Operations Director at Ward, added:

“We know how important Umbrella’s work is in supporting children, young adults and their families across the local area. We are proud that with our skip donations, we’ve played a small part in helping to create an outdoor space that they can all enjoy now and into the future.”

Umbrella supports families living in Derby City and Derbyshire, providing exciting activities. Most services in Derbyshire are provided in Amber Valley, Erewash, Derby City, South Derbyshire and South Derbyshire Dales. Anyone can refer a child or young person to Umbrella including families, social workers, teachers and youth workers. The charity can support a child or young person no matter what their disability as their services are person centred to meet individual needs.

For more information about Umbrella, visit: www.umbrella.uk.net.