Children at the Calthorpe Project, the community centre and garden on the Grays Inn Road have benefited from money raised by employees of Ringway. The cash helped fund activities such as arts and crafts, cooking and gardening for over 100 local children during the summer holidays.

In addition to providing financial support Ringway’s staff provide “hands-on” help to contribute to the on-going success of the Project. Says Alison Gates from Calthorpe: “Volunteers from Ringway have been involved in the project now for three months and have provided an enormous amount of support in helping us to complete projects within the garden such as putting up new fences, path laying and general maintenance.  They have also spent time passing on skills to local people which they can use both at the project and in the wider world.”

Ringway’s support for the project began when David Lee, its Chairman, took part in an event called “Seeing is Believing” supported by the Prince’s Trust – where companies were given the opportunity to visit community projects where they could provide practical help rather than financial support. Having taken the decision to support Calthorpe, Ringway employees have been making a positive contribution to the project and recently supported the “London Better Together” campaign by helping to clear overgrown areas and plant new flowers and shrubs.

Says David Lee, Chairman, Ringway: “Our employees have an enormous amount of skills and projects like the one at Calthorpe are a great way of supporting the local community and improving the lives of the local residents.”

The Calthorpe project caters for a wide variety of users, attracting around 30,000 visitors each year – remarkable for the tiny 1.2 acre space. The majority of visitors are local residents attending classes, using the under 8s drop in or simply enjoying the open space.

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