Volunteering Day at Loddon School

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On 3rd March we returned to Loddon School, after what seems like weeks of rain the weather held for us and we even had sunshine. We were a small but very able group of volunteers from Basingstoke Loddon and Basingstoke Deane clubs, at the school to help in a couple of different areas. 

In the morning we started the clearing of a new paddock area for their horses. The area was overgrown with a lot of brambles to be cleared (I have the scratches to prove it), trees to be cut down and a disused path to be removed. And in the afternoon we started clearing the abandoned mud play area so it can again be used by the pupils. 

We even had time to look in on the tranquillity garden where we worked on our last visit. Everyone worked hard during the day and I am sure that there were a lot of long baths for the volunteers in the evening. A special shout out to Katharine and Ian who did an outstanding job of removing a long section of a path of concrete slabs in the morning and in the afternoon.  

Debs and Brenda did a great job ‘excavating’ the mud play area and Margaret proved to be a demon digger! In both locations we made a significant dent in the clearing of the areas.

Loddon is a school and home for children with autism, severe learning disabilities and associated complex restrictive behaviours and interacting with animals and outdoor play form an important part of their learning and ability to explore the world in a safe environment.

We will be back next year!