February 2024 Newsletter
February Newsletter 2024
A big thank you to all who were able to attend the parent/carer afternoon. The trainees showcased their work & contributions they have made to the enterprises at Sailship, showing commitment & motivation for their successful work projects. Congratulations to all!
With spring fast approaching, the gardens are waking up and work has already begun. Colin, (Head Gardener), volunteers & trainees have all made a head start on 3 new projects for the summer.
Outside the Bay Café there will be a small kitchen garden, which will house salad crops, herbs, edible flowers etc, for our in-house cooking programmes. As well as this we have two new wild flower gardens by the wooded area & the embankment of the car park.
The new alternative education caravan will be ready by the end of February, so students will have a new space to develop & grow in.
As well as the new caravan we are also making a start on re-designing our ASDAN Training polytunnel. The new ‘Training Pod’ will support all trainees in their horticultural learning, instead of being used only for our ASDAN trainees.
Phoenix Polytunnel is also being re vamped to enable activities and exercise classes to take place, for both trainees and ‘invited in’ community groups. Our ‘Grow a Friendship with Sailship’ project has already seen a very successful chair exercise group session for our lovely elderly people from local care homes.
News from The Enterprises
Crafts: Creative craft activities will include themes such as ‘seed week’, ‘weather week’ and ‘world week’. We will enjoy making Bug Cane Toppers, colourful seed bombs, windsocks and wind chimes, using colourful materials and imaginative designs.
Horticulture: The team is currently very busy preparing fruit and vegetable gardens & the cut flower beds. A new flower bed is being designed, with a raised area in the centre. Trainees are deciphering what type of soil will be required to support the chosen flower types. Planters made in woodwork sessions will be lined, ready to be planted up. The never-ending continuation of seed sowing of a variety of vegetables – the ‘shopping list’ from the Kitchen Crew, coupled with the sowing of flowers and herbs, will ensure some beautiful spaces as the season progresses. When sunny days appear, trainees will also continue with the more regular tasks, such as garden maintenance, e.g. painting fences and weeding beds.
Kitchen: Trainees are busy replenishing stocks of preserves, utilising fruit and vegetables from the previous seasons’ harvest. Thank goodness for numerous freezers, dotted around the site!! You are, of course, welcome to purchase pots of jam/chutney/pickles etc and the shop is open every Friday, should you like to have a browse.
The Bay Café Trainees have been exceptionally busy supporting the ‘Grow a Friendship with Sailship’ project. This gives them ‘real’ working experiences, preparing food and serving the customers.
They have given some wonderful feedback, especially enjoying the scones and ‘birdie’ biscuits.
Utilising the mini-bus:
Presently, we are getting an idea of numbers so that we can then cost journeys. We will let you know as soon as possible when this service will be fully up and running. Huge thanks go to the Mark Benevolent Trust for their generous funding of the vehicle. We shall soon be adding their logo and the Sailship logo to the mini bus – so we shall be seen about town!
“In a world of many challenges, if you can be anything- let it be kind”
Very best wishes to all our participants & parents/carers
Liz & the team
