The Clare Foundation Summer Soiree Event 2021
The Clare Foundation welcomed local charities and organisations to Lindengate for our late summer soiree event and to launch ‘The Clare Foundation Nature Reserve’ opened by Mike and Julie Clare.
Guests came together to enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the Lindengate gardens and to hear more about the new Nature Reserve which will support young people in the local community. The Clare Foundation has committed over £50k of funding to Lindengate over the next two years to support their projects.
“After an unprecedented 18 months it was great to see all the friends and supporters of The Clare Foundation reunite for a wonderful Summer Soiree at Lindengate. Julie and I felt particularly honoured to open the new Clare Foundation Nature Reserve at Lindengate and it was great to see and learn more about the splendid work that the team at Lindengate do to help the young people of Buckinghamshire.”
Mike Clare, Founder and Chairman, The Clare Foundation
Photo caption: Mike Clare welcoming guests
Photo caption: Paul Miles, Julie Clare, Mike Clare, Charlie Powell and Martin Gallagher, celebrating the launch of the Nature Reserve
We want to say a big thank you to everyone who attended on the day.
“The Lindengate Nature Reserve is a unique collaboration for The Clare Foundation and one that has been in discussion since the early summer with the CEOs and Trustees. We are delighted to continue to work with Lindengate as we have over the past six years. Their work in helping people is highly commendable, innovative and life changing and we are only too happy to be positioned to support them on this new project. The next few years will see many challenges post Covid and Lindengate will be placed to help many people.”
Martin Gallagher. CEO. The Clare Foundation
Nature Reserve
“We were delighted to host The Clare Foundations Summer Soirée and for me to be able to personally thank Mike and Julie Clare for their tremendous support of not only Lindengate but many other Charities. The Clare Foundation’s generosity is having a massive impact on many people.”
Paul Miles, Lindengate
“We are so pleased to have been able to contribute towards such a gracious evening and in our own way say a big thank you to Mike and Julie Clare for the tremendous support that they are giving us and others. Many more young people will now be able to access our programmes to nurture their wellbeing and that of our natural environment”
Charlie Powell, Co-Founder and General Manager at Lindengate
There is need for increased services to support young people coming out of Covid and with a rise in the uptake of young people coming through Lindengate’s programmes, this shows us that nature based activities and nurturing nature is something that they are wanting to connect with.
Our experience of working with The Clare Foundation in recent times, has been a very successful one.
- Rest & Reflect programme, launched in June 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Lindengate received seed funding of £1000 for this project and to date, this has given us a 1000% return on investment.
- Our pre-Covid annual numbers for programme participants was 200, increasing to 1700 for the past 12 months.Year on year, our service has increased by 40%.
- We are embedded into the Bucks NHS Workforce and Wellbeing programme, supporting 180 ICU staff.
With the success of the nature reserve, we can leverage conservation opportunities in the future, building onour reputation and look to become a flagship model that can be replicated as part of the Nature Alliance andother relevant projects.
The natural beauty and richness of the site help restore and heal, whilst specialised gardening, conservation,construction, cooking and nature based arts and crafts activities provide focus and purpose. Add to this, the community of volunteers and staff who nuture a supportive, inclusive and safe environment and you have a recipe for success.
The future plans for the nature reserve, include:
- Create a nature connections education centre building & welfare facilities
- Developing and maintaining many bio diverse natural habitats for native species
- Separate entrance to the nature reserve
- Assessible hide
- Training – scything, hedge laying, willow weaving & other heritage and bush crafts, conservation
The result will provide a legacy for young people, focused on the benefits of Green care and nature based activities that will build resilience and maintain healthy wellbeing, encouraging self help to ensure young people are equipped with coping mechanisms and the tools to secure their future.
The Clare Foundation continues to support local organisations with support and funding to help deliver community based projects. For more information please take a look at our charities page on our website.
