Reflex Site Bursary Round-up: Heartwarming Stories of Impact
Earlier this year, we unveiled our Reflex site bursary scheme, an initiative that empowers each of our UK manufacturing sites to make a positive difference in their local communities. Today, we’re excited to share a collection of inspiring stories highlighting the enduring changes our employees’ selected causes have brought to their neighbourhoods. These stories are a testament to the incredible impact that can be achieved when communities come together.
MUD- Platt Fields Market Garden | Donated by Graphic Brands Manchester
MUD (Manchester Urban Diggers) is a non-profit social enterprise and has a community market garden set up in Platt Fields Park, Manchester. They are dedicated to finding solutions to problems with their local food systems, with a focus on nature and wellbeing. Platt fields regularly run free workshops & educational activities and provide free food to their local community. The Reflex bursary was used to help pay for their pay-as-you-feel Friday community lunches which help feed their local community each week.
Find out more about Platt Field Market Garden here.
Ketton Primary School- Peace Garden | Donated by Graphic Brands Ketton
Ketton Primary School is based a stone’s throw away from our Graphic Brands studio and is the school of one of our employees’ daughters.
The Reflex bursary for Ketton Primary School went towards building their peace garden. The school believes that engaging with nature is important for the development of all children as it affords them opportunities to learn, exercise, and socialise with others in a more holistic way. The school wants to develop a sensory garden to provide an area for calmness and spirituality. Spending time in nature can also be beneficial for mental health as sensory gardens are a way of enriching children’s daily lives.
Pictured: Planters in Ketton Primary School peace garden, funded by the bursary.
Gosberton House Academy- Nature Trip to Boston Belle | Donated by Reflex Labels Boston
Gosberton House is a specialist primary academy mainly for children with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder, with a number of places for children with additional needs including learning, communication, sensory and social needs. The Bursary donation from Reflex funded a trip to Boston Belle River which gave the children the opportunity to practice their social skills in the community and explore nature and wildlife.
Pictured: Children from Gosberton House on their Boston Belle trip.
Boston Endeavours – Sensory Garden & Memorial Bench | Donated by Reflex Labels Boston
Boston Endeavour Academy is a specialist school for children aged 2-19 with a range of learning difficulties and disabilities, located in the market town of Boston, Lincolnshire.
The Reflex bursary will help the school to complete a sensory garden and forest school area for the children to access, which is an important aspect particularly for children with additional needs. Watch this space for updates on when the works are complete.
Lashes Foundation | Donated by Reflex Labels Mansfield
The Lashes foundation shares grants to local people and organisations in need of support, by relieving financial hardship, sickness and poor health amongst the community, particularly the elderly and disadvantaged people in the Clipstone Parish and surrounding areas.
“In July 2021, we sadly lost Evie aged 13. Evie brightened up any room she walked into with her beautiful smile, giggle and witty sense of humour. She was a special individual who always put others above herself. The Lashes Foundation was set up to keep Evie’s legacy alive, carry on her kindness and help others in the local community – just like she did. “ – Lashes Foundation
The Reflex bursary donated to Lashes foundation will be used towards one of the many important grants that it organises.
Pictured: Image from the original charity game with Mansfield Town Players, which kick started the Lashes Foundation.
Find out more about Lashes Foundation here.
Dun Roamin- Dog Rehoming Centre | Bursary donated by Reflex Flexible Packaging Telford
Dun Roamin is a charity that keeps dogs that are difficult to rehome for as long as they live, it relies solely on donations and fundraising.
The Reflex bursary covered rent for the kennels that their nine dogs occupy and helped to free-up funds to go on other things that were needed to make them comfortable.
Pictured: Reggie and his favourite ball, who was a former resident at Dun Roaming.
Find out more about Dun Roamin here.
Sir Alexander Fleming Primary School- Outdoor Learning Space | Bursary donated by Reflex Flexible Packaging Telford
Sir Alexander Fleming Primary School is a large community Primary School serving an area ranked in the top 10% of deprivation nationally.
The school has been working hard on their outdoor learning space, known as their ‘Shedquarters’ by clearing an overgrown area of the school garden. The Reflex bursary has helped to fund resources for this area, which impressively won the school a School Gardening Team of the Year (Primary) award from the RHS Campaign for School Gardening. You can read more on that story here.
Youth Focus North East | Bursary donated by Reflex Labels Newcastle
Youth Focus North East (YFNE) is an independent charity, with a vision to improve the lives of young people through high quality youth work in the North East.
YFNA set up a particular project for the young people of Springwell Estate where they worked on a social action project with an aim to reduce knife crime in their area. The Reflex bursary was spent on the Springwell Estate project, helping to keep the sessions running for the young people.
Pictured: YFNE Springwell Estate group on a recent residential trip.
Find out more about YFNE here.
Manorfield Primary School- Peace Garden | Bursary donated by Reflex Label Plus Barwell
Manorfield Primary School is a school based in Leicestershire and is a school for some of our employees’ children.
Manorfield “aims to offer their children an exciting curriculum that nurtures a love of learning as well as developing them as individuals”. As part of this they have an outdoor area for the children, including a forest school. The Reflex bursary helped to support the peace garden in their outdoor area by updating plants and benches, which gives the young children a place to reflect and for peace and calm.
Silsden Fire Station- Community Allotment | Bursary donated by Reflex Label Plus Keighley
Silsden is the local fire station to our Keighley site. Dom Creed, watch manager at Silsden Fire Station set up a community allotment by arranging the transformation of an unused grassy area, providing a welcoming space for residents and visitors to relax. The addition of the orchard, along with Reflex’s contribution of a bench and planters (as part of the bursary) added to the charm of the space.
Currently the allotment hosts a diverse range of fruits and vegetables being grown, from strawberries to Brussels sprouts (just in time for the festivities!)
The thriving community project was officially opened by TV’s Katie Rushworth in July, which was a memorable event. You can read more on that here.
Pictured: Silsden Fire Station Community Allotments, being officially opened by TVs Katie Rushworth.
Oakworth Primary School- Vegetable and Sensory Garden | Bursary donated by Reflex Label Plus Keighley
Oakworth Primary School is situated 0.5 miles up the hill from our Keighley site and is the local school for some of our employees’ children.
During lockdown the school started a project to make a garden for the children in an unused area of the school. Unfortunately, they had since run out of funding and the project was unfinished. This is where the Reflex site bursary has helped to fund new planter boxes, plants to go in them and funding to help clear the remaining area, in order to make more use of the space for the vegetable and sensory garden.
VASL Community Champions | Bursary donated by Reflex Packaging Solutions Market Harborough
VASL is a local charity providing services and support across Harborough District and Leicestershire. The Community Champions project aims to reduce loneliness for people over 60 who live alone in Harborough District. The Reflex bursary was used towards recruiting and training volunteers, organising social events, providing accessible transport and to assist with offering online connection opportunities.
Pictured: VASL community gathering (right)
Read more about VASL Community Champions here.
Friends of Trafford Ecology & Conservation (FOTEC)- Audit | Bursary Donated by Reflex Pack Plus Manchester
FOTEC is a group of young people aged 15-21 years old who will be undertaking an ecological survey and audit of Trafford Ecology park. For this they will map the variety of plants and trees, in addition to auditing the range of animals and invertebrates (using traps and motion sensor photography). The Reflex bursary will be used to pay for this during an overnight camp, when the audit will take place.
Pictured: Members of FOTEC exploring at Trafford Ecology Park and gearing up for the audit.
Fort Royal Community Primary School- Sensory Lending Library | Bursary donated by Webflex Worcester
Fort Royal Community Primary School is a special needs school in Worcester, catering for all needs. The school had found that lots of their families were struggling to help their children with sensory needs at home and so they set up a sensory lending library. This is really successful and allows families to ‘try before they buy’, as specialised sensory equipment can be very costly. The lending library needs replacing annually, and so the Reflex bursary was spent towards this.
There we have our round-up, we hope you have enjoyed reading about the initiatives that formed the Reflex Site Bursary Scheme 2023. The stories shared underscore the brilliant impact our employees and their chosen causes have made within their local communities. The unveiling of the bursary scheme earlier this year was just the beginning of a journey toward lasting change, and we are thrilled to witness the effects of these initiatives to date. We look forward to continuing this journey and making a meaningful difference in our local communities!
