The kindness of friends.
(as a big thank-you to everyone who supports The Bournstream Trust) by Mark Pasco, chair and volunteer.
The kindness of strangers is an amazing thing to see but equally we should celebrate the kindness, loyalty and generosity of friends.
It is what keeps a small children’s charity like ours going!
Way back, in 1987, Bournstream outdoor play and picnic site was founded on just such an act of kindness.
Landowner, and small-scale farmer, Barbara Saxton, decided to share the place she loved with disabled children and their families.
” This is where I live,” she wrote to the Charity Commission, setting out her pioneering idea.
In our times, outdoor play and its benefits to health and well-being are recognised as being really good for every child, as a right to be enjoyed.
Bournstream adventure playground is often called “an oasis,” ” a calming place” and “an escape” by the hundreds of families who use it each season, from toddlers to teenagers.
Demand for new places runs high and its reputation spreads over many Counties – along with a growing understanding of what one parent called: “A child who is different.”
And it is this kindness of friends which maintains and enhances all that Bournstream continues to give, to share, with the children who need it most.
Giving them space to be themselves, to play without judgment or additional restrictions.
Friends like Renishaw Plc or The Barnwood Trust for essential grants for mowing, friends as volunteers who welcome new families and fix things, friends who give their time to run the charity and manage it safely.
The list of friends and their kindnesses is a long one!
Wotton Lions re-roofing a playhouse, an artist making pottery donkeys, grandparents selling plants to buy us a new nest swing.
Kindness comes in so many shapes and sizes, as do friends.
Founded on a practical compassion, rooted in nature and outdoor play, Bournstream for many families has simply come to mean freedom!
To find out more, about eligibility to join or even to become an active volunteer, please Google the word “Bournstream” to find our colourful website with all you need to know.
So, we should never take our friends for granted and this message of thanks goes out to you all as we begin a new season at Bournstream.
Thanks, from all the children who have benefitted and come to play, as well as those who are yet to discover it!