Azure Charitable Enterprises has received a grant from The Kirkby Foundation to help improve the lives of disabled and disadvantaged people in the North East.
Azure is a North East Charity based in Cramlington, Northumberland, and the multi-faceted services provided enable individuals to live more independently, access the community, find and stay in employment and gain skills through training. 
An important aspect of the charity’s work is Azure Garden Centre & Café in Cramlington. The garden centre offers a wide range of plants and gardening products, outdoor furniture, garden accessories, gifts, homeware and also features a Café serving a range of high quality, home cooked food options.
Two Poly Tunnels at the garden centre had fallen into disrepair, and the £5,000 grant from the Kirkby Foundation has helped to enable the tunnels to be brought back into use, facilitating additional growing space for the horticultural nurseries, which in turn creates more product to retail via the garden centre.
In addition, the area provides an additional training environment for trainees on the Skills Builder programme, and creates a space in which to host educational visits from local schools and community groups.
After visiting Azure, Stuart and Janet Brown from The Kirkby Foundation were keen to support the project, saying:
“We were delighted to be able to lend a helping hand to the work of Azure Charitable Enterprises. Bringing the Poly Tunnels back to life is a really tangible way to support training, education and volunteering in the local community, and we appreciate the real difference that this charity makes to the lives of people living in the North East.”
Dr Peter Wilson, Chief Executive of Azure Charitable Enterprises, added:
“We are very grateful to the Kirkby Foundation for their generous donation, which has made a real difference to the work of Azure. It’s always a pleasure to be able to work with charitable foundations that share the same determination to raise aspiration, create opportunity and improve the quality of life of the people we serve.”