Disabled Fishersgate pensioner steps out to raise funds for new community garden

Maureen Springgay usually uses a mobility scooter to get around but she is going out on foot with her walking frame for ten days to raise money for the St Aubyns Garden, on the corner of St Aubyns Crescent and St Aubyns Road.

Having already passed her target of £500, Maureen is keeping going until Friday on her daily trips around the block.

Daughter Carol Springgay, secretary of Eastbrook Community Gardeners, said: “My 74-year-old disabled mum is doing a Walking for Wildflowers fundraiser in order to draw attention to and raise funds to transform the verge to wildflowers at St Aubyns in Fishersgate.

“She has been inspired by the resilience of Captain Sir Tom Moore. We call her Captain Moore(reen).

“We have been bowled over by the public response. It takes her 50 minutes to complete a 500m lap. She usually doesn’t walk and each lap is more than Mum has walked in a decade.”

Eastbrook Community Gardeners, a group of volunteers formed in 2019, wants to create a beautiful display of flowers to attract bees and butterflies.

Carol explained: “Not only would it benefit pollinators but it would help to lift people’s spirits in Fishersgate, which is an industrial and unloved part of town.”

The group of volunteer gardeners started with one bed last year, which they covered in colourful wildflowers. The money Maureen raises will cover the cost of new wildflower turf and signage for St Aubyns Garden, which will be included on the newly-launched Adur & Worthing Wildflower Trail

Carol said: “We are hoping to also do lots of good work encouraging the community to grow wildflowers, increasing people’s wellbeing and promoting biodiversity for our butterflies and bees.”

Visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/walkingforwildflowers for more information and to make a donation.