Brighter Communities Worldwide raise funds to support our work in Kenya in many different ways. Volunteers and supporters play a vital role in this and we are privileged to share the story of one such volunteer – Anne Jones. Anne has a passion for gardening which she has merged with an entrepreneurial flair that has raised €3,921 since 2019. Here’s how it happened!
Anne got involved with Brighter Communities Worldwide in 2019 by participating in the Harambee overseas volunteer programme, which she describes as “the most amazing experience” and extremely inspiring. Part of Harambee’s mission is to raise funds for the organisation’s programmes. Each volunteer commits to raising €1,000 and that led Anne to set up her first garden sale in 2019 from her home in Bedfordshire, England.
Initially Anne held a one-off fundraiser to help raise funds for the €1,000 Harambee target. Her sisters Joan and Kathyrn were a great support in running this sale which included plants, tea and cakes and a wide variety of bric-a-brac. All items for this sale were individually priced. After it’s success Anne decided to continue with the garden sale but instead of pricing items she used a honesty box. The garden sale paired with the honesty box thrived throughout the pandemic and is still going today, raising funds for Brighter Communities Worldwide.
The concept of an honesty box is that people leave a donation in exchange for one of Annes’s garden goods. The reason it is named an honesty box is because those who take the items are considered to be honest and they will leave a donation even though nobody is looking! “It’s always exciting to see what people donate and I am thrilled that my plants are going to a good home,” Anne says.
Anne’s plants range from ajuga, lavender, aquilegia, poppies, basil, mint, yellow loosestrife, lupin, poppies and many more. Anne says “I take seedlings that self-seed from established plants thriving in my garden, pot them up and nurture them ’til they are strong enough to go on sale. I love to see the ‘off spring’ from my garden now thriving in other peoples’ gardens!” Her garden produce also provides a fantastic selection of jams, which were extremely popular during lockdown. Anne’s blackcurrant, redcurrant, apple, rhubarb, and plum trees and plants provided the fruit for all her jams. Anne enjoys experimenting with both simple and unique jam flavours, such as strawberry and vanilla.
As a result of the changing climate, Anne has witnessed the hardships her garden has encountered in the past year, such as flooding at the beginning of 2024 and the garden dying from the heat in the summer of 2023. Despite the challenges that Anne’s garden has experienced, the plants continue to flourish and sell!
Brighter Communities Worldwide are tremendously grateful to Anne and her green fingers for her continued generosity and support. Thank you to all those who support her gardening honesty box!
