Business opportunity blooms between shopping centre and local charity
8 August 2024
A Northumberland charity has been awarded a contract to supply the floral arrangements to
Morpeth’s Sanderson Arcade.
Blyth Star Enterprises, which operates a horticultural day service at Stakeford Nurseries for adults
with complex mental health needs and learning disabilities, was approached by Sanderson Arcade
following a recommendation from a member of the shopping centre’s security staff.
Located in the centre of the historic market town, Sanderson Arcade is renowned for its displays of summer and winter floral displays.
The centre has won top accolades on multiple occasions at both national and regional level ‘In Bloom’ competitions.
This is the first year that the contract for the centre’s landscaping has been outsourced to an
external company and it was important to the management team that the chosen contractor was
both local and had the community at its heart.
Lottie Thompson, Centre Manager at Sanderson Arcade, commented:
“Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the hanging baskets and planters that shoppers see around
Sanderson Arcade had been tended by a dedicated gardening team, but in recent years, the job had
fallen to other members of staff who admittedly didn’t have the same level of expertise, so we
started to consider outsourcing the work.
“Gordon, one of our security guards, recommended that we check out Stakeford Nurseries to see if
they could help us. Gordon explained that it was run by a charity, which is something that we really
liked the sound of, so we paid the site a visit and were really impressed with the set up. It just
seemed like a perfect fit.
“The work that the team at Stakeford Nurseries has carried out has been fantastic. The flowers are
absolutely beautiful and we have been getting lots of compliments from shoppers. The staff and
service users have been so helpful and have provided us with lots of maintenance tips to help us
keep our displays looking their best throughout the summer. We can’t thank them enough.”
Graham Carr, Horticultural Services Manager at Stakeford Nurseries, added:
“We were delighted to be approached by the team at Sanderson Arcade about supplying the plants
for their hanging baskets and planters.
“The idea behind Blyth Star’s day services like Stakeford Nurseries, which reflect real working
environments, is to provide our service users with a meaningful way to spend their time where they
can socialise, learn new skills and access endorsed packages of vocational training.
“Working together with local businesses like Sanderson Arcade is a great way for us to supplement
our day services and build on service user’s horticultural knowledge and understanding by providing
them with projects and experiences which also allow them to engage with the local community –
something which can be difficult for them due to the nature of their disabilities.
In total, staff and service users from Blyth Star’s Stakeford Nurseries planted up 23 large hanging
baskets, six wall planters and a number of freestanding planters to supply to Sanderson Arcade.
For more information about Blyth Star Enterprises and Stakeford Nurseries, visit
www.blythstar.org.uk or to find out more about Sanderson Arcade, visit
www.sandersonarcade.co.uk.
ENDS
Photo captions: Gordon Hakin and Lottie Thompson from Sanderson
Arcade with staff and service users from Blyth Star Enterprises’ Stakeford Nurseries.
Media contact: Leanne Tweddle, Philanthropy and Marketing Manager at Blyth Star Enterprises. Tel:
01670 338500 or Email: l.tonks@blythstar.org.uk.
Notes to editors
About Blyth Star Enterprises
Founded in 1987 by a group of parents, carers and mental health practitioners, Blyth Star Enterprises
is a charitable organisation that supports people living with complex mental health needs and
learning disabilities.
Based on the founding principles of ‘somewhere to live, somewhere to work and someone to care’,
Blyth Star supports around 350 individuals living across Northumberland through the provision of
living support and a range of meaningful day services, which are designed to reflect as closely as
possible, real working environments, to give service users a sense of independence and enable them
to learn and practice employment-based skills.
Stakeford Nurseries
Stakeford Nurseries is a social care day service operated by Blyth Star Enterprises, a
Northumberland-based charity which provides support for people living with complex mental health
needs and learning disabilities.
In the tranquil setting of our plant nursery, our service users have the opportunity to learn all about
horticulture, from the basics of sowing seeds and watering plants, to more complex work such as
propagation techniques, how to prepare soil, plant seasonal vegetables and manage crop rotation.
In providing day services that reflect real workplace environments, it is our mission to help
reconnect our service users with their local communities, giving them the confidence and skills to
live as independently as possible.
Our fruit, vegetables and ornamental plants are available to purchase exclusively from our on-site
retail unit, with all surplus raised then reinvested back into the service.
For more information, visit www.blythstar.org.uk.
For further information, contact:-
Public Relations Department, Dransfield Properties Ltd
Tel: 01226 360644
Email: admin@dransfield.co.uk