They say many hands make light work and this was certainly the case when a hardworking group of locals banded together to give a Sovereign Hills couple an early Christmas present.
Orchestrated by resident Terry Sara, the College Rise garden project was all about lending a helping hand to Margaret and Chris Brockway, who have displayed amazing strength and resilience over the past decade following a serious farm accident and house fire.
Mr Sara thought the Brockways, who moved into their home in late 2016, could do with a belated house warming gift – just in time for Christmas – and enlisted the help of Sovereign Hills.
“We are absolutely amazed,” responded Mr Brockway. “I couldn’t believe the kindness.”
“We didn’t go out of our way to ask for help, but it was obvious we needed to do something and we are extremely grateful,” said Mrs Brockway.
The plants were supplied by the Bonny Hills Garden Centre and Sovereign Hills, Adam and Kristy Roberts covered the site prep and mulch, Craig Thomas donated a beautiful grass tree, Hibbards Hire donated the use of a post hole digger and Adam along with Robert Challenger, Wayne and Mandy Gleeson and their children, all volunteered to roll up their sleeves with Mr Sara to get the job done.
“I would drive past their home every day and I had noticed they had been there for some time and hadn’t managed to tackle the garden,” shared Terry. “Knowing Chris and Margaret’s story I wanted to do something to help them, so I knocked on the door, put a crew together and organised a front yard blitz.”
“It’s a great sense of community to be able to help others particularly at this time of the year.”
The result is even better than the Brockways were hoping for and they can’t wait for their new garden to mature.
“They couldn’t have done a better job with their plant selection,” said Mrs Brockway.
“The fact there’s something to look at outside will probably encourage me to go out a bit more,” smiled Mr Brockway. “Coming off the farm where there were plenty of birds, I’m looking forward to being close to nature again.”
