Laura Penn is one of the five trustees of the Callister Trust. The trust is nearly 100 years old and is a registered charity. Its main purpose is to promote the welfare of girls and young women in Birkenhead.
Laura wrote:
“I first heard about the Callister Trust back in 2016 when I was asked by the now chairperson, Cathy Warren, to consider becoming a trustee for the charity. I work full time for a housing association and also volunteer at a youth group, however, after consideration, decided I could spare the time and would also gain a lot from becoming a trustee. The trust owns an office building near Hamilton Square (currently rented out) and a half acre garden in Slatey Road. I grew up in the area and even as a child had always wondered what was behind the garden gate.
“It took us until February 2018 to finally get all the paperwork completed to become trustees, although we were to spend a further 3-6 months getting the charity commission site, bank account and land registry details sorted. As treasurer, working with my fellow trustees to finalise these was a key priority.
“In recent years the gateway had been boarded up and had a metal sheet over it for security so we were not able to start the work of restoring the garden until April 2018, when we installed a new gate which I helped to design. The garden had been left to grow wild for over 10 years and both vandals and time had destroyed a lot of the structures including the greenhouse which had every pane of glass broken. Aided by a band of local volunteers the trustees commenced the work of clearing. At this point I found myself enjoying the more practical work in the garden.
“Gradually the garden began to appear, paths were uncovered, sheds made useable, fly tipping and dangerous debris removed. Plants were discovered including a vine and fig tree. Nearly all of the work was done by volunteers. I even roped in my work colleagues to use some of the volunteering days our company gives us.
“The garden is now starting to be used for community projects. In January, a refugee and asylum seeker gardening project started and we have had a number of family woodland workshops and Women’s wellbeing sessions. Recently the Older Peoples’ Parliament have taken over a plot of land to grow vegetables for their ‘Soup Box’ project. Covid 19 has given us challenges and prevented us from doing some activities but it has also brought us some keen volunteers and there has been real progress in the garden over the last 6 months. The advantage of being an outdoor area with plenty of space is that social distancing can be maintained and our volunteers have really felt the benefit of working in what is now becoming a lovely garden.”
If you want to find out more about Callister Trust and see some more photos and videos of the garden please visit the Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/callistertrust/
Laura Penn, Callister Trustee
