Green-fingered siblings raise money for Northampton youth group by selling home-grown plants

A family who usually attend a youth group in Northampton have turned their attention to planting seeds during lockdown.

Tobias, Nevaiah and Aijah Lothian-Cooke decided they wanted to give their garden a makeover, so started planting seeds in pots with their grandmother.

But the youngsters, aged 11, 10 and nine ended up planting hundreds of seeds and had lots leftover once they had recreated their garden.

In a bid to raise money from the green-fingered venture, the siblings decided to give the spare plants away to neighbours and friends and ask for a donation.

The children all normally attend Free2Talk youth sessions at Blackthorn Community Centre, so agreed the £261 they raised should be donated to the group.

Rachel Clarke, leader of the youth group, said: “They contacted me earlier this week asking if I could go and see them.

“Being their youth leader and not having the opportunity to run their usual sessions in the local community centre due to lockdown and running online chat room youth sessions instead, I jumped at the chance for a social'y distanced chat on the doorstep.

“When I arrived I was brought to tears with what these young people had done.

“They gifted me with some of their plants and a box of chocolates for continuing to support them through this time and then they handed over, in a sealed plastic bag, the sum of £261, which they chose to donate the whole amount to Free2Talk youth organisation.”

Although the youth group cannot meet during these times, Rachel is glad to see that the children are keeping busy and supporting their community.

She added: “It's such an amazing thing for them to do and just goes to show it doesn’t matter where you live there are kind people everywhere.

“The generosity of them shows true community spirit in these hard times and despite the upheaval of the world right now these young people have shown true positivity through it.

“They are truly inspirational and I myself am proud of them as I know their mum is too.”

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