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Want some cute little seedlings delivered to your doorstep for you to nurture into fully fledged plants? Want to do something about the fact that calls to domestic abuse charity Refuge are up 25 percent since lockdown started?
A new London-based fundraising scheme is here to help.
Seedlings for Solace is dropping off seedlings at homes around the city in return for £5 donations to London domestic abuse charity Solace Women’s Aid. The money raised will go towards helping the charity provide refuges, helplines and legal support to vulnerable women in the city.
The project is being run by Hannah Morgan, a sculpture student at the Slade School of Fine Art, who started it when her university shut down. With the help of some friends and fellow students, she began growing and distributing from hubs in north and south London. She also partnered with coffee joint Allpress Espresso in Dalston to stock seedlings.
‘What struck me more than ever [as we went into lockdown],’ she says, ‘is how fortunate I am to have a home that is safe, a luxury that many women living in coercive and abusive spaces don’t have. It is now more important than ever to help organisations supporting these women.’
Morgan says that at the core of the project is the idea of using the time it takes for a seedling to cultivate, be delivered to you and then grow to think about the ‘current perilous situation that some women face in our society’.
‘Caring for something is integral to the regrowth we will all have to face after this crisis and beyond,’ she adds.
The project has raised £1,000 so far.
Help support the campaign at Seedlings for Solace.
Find more information on how to help and get help in London.