A place of quiet amid a busy young people’s centre has been created on the first anniversary of the Foxton’s new hub in Avenham.
And Blog Preston readers helped make it happen as a grant from our Community Fund has helped to create the charity’s new memorial garden and tree.
Unveiled at the Foxton’s summer social event to mark a year of the new Knowsley Street base the planter has been built with bricks from the old 1960s centre which was demolished to make way for the new modern community centre.
Read more: Community gardens, foodbanks and charities share more than £200,000 handed to city good causes
Chief executive of the Foxton, Cath Coffey, said: “We’ve been on the site for 57 years, so it’s really, really important to us.
“When we imagined the building, we didn’t want everything to be left abandoned. So, we kept a lot of the bricks that were part of the building and part of the Foxton family.
“One of our volunteers built an amazing display for us, and we’ve been able to plant a garden with help from Blog Preston. It means a lot to everyone who’s been through Foxton over the years.
“There’s also a bit of awareness and a bit of recognition in the community where people can go to remember those who’ve passed through and either made it or not with us, or many people we’ve lost on the street as well.
“They’ll always be remembered here. They’ll always be remembered as part of Foxton, and that’s important to us.”
Founder and editor of Blog Preston, Ed Walker, said: “One of our commitments at Blog Preston is each year we support a number of initiatives or projects through our Community Fund. It’s never going to change the world but it can make small, tangible, differences to people and organisations in the city.
“The Foxton’s old centre in Knowsley Street is a place we reported on and visited many times and to see their new facility take shape in the past year and the impact it has is incredible, but the site itself has a history so we thought we’d put something towards making the memorial tree happen on behalf of Blog Preston readers.”
The Blog Preston Community Fund has supported photography exhibitions, murals on the side of buildings, plays and performances and plenty more over the years. Blog Preston is a Community Interest Company and any money we make goes back into more community reporting about the city – and we’re also able to support charities and community organisations making a difference in Preston with small, targeted, grants for specific projects.
