Community News

AWE’s annual Christmas charity collection saw AWE staff generously donate food, essentials, toys and clothing to a number of deserving charities. COVID-safe collection points were staffed by volunteers at the two sites, allowing staff to drop off charitable donations. Altogether an impressive 1.5 tonnes of food, one van full of essentials and clothes, along with many […]

AWE is proud of its relationship with charity partner Thrive and its amazing work it does. The Reading-based charity uses gardening and plants to improve the health and wellbeing of its clients who have a wide range of disabilities, health conditions and support needs. Over the last three years AWE and its staff have raised […]

As part of its ongoing commitment to support local charities, AWE’s charity partner Thrive has received an AWE Charity Fund donation to help its client gardeners flourish at the weekly sessions. This is the third year that Thrive, one of the leading gardening for health charities, has been AWE’s charity partner. Throughout this time, AWE […]

The summer edition of AWE’s community newsletter is out now. This latest issue throws the spotlight on our Local Liaison Committee and how it serves as an important link between AWE and the local community. There’s also a round-up of AWE news plus our work with education and charity partners. Click here for the latest […]

This year’s Primary Science Challenge has seen local students create some amazing micro-habitats to reflect the 2021 theme of ‘biodiversity’. Regional winners have now been announced with both displaying great imagination and creativity. As part of AWE’s school outreach work and in partnership with Education Business Partnership (EBP) West Berkshire and EBP South, biodiversity workshops […]

Lego enthusiasts at the Vyne School in Basingstoke have used a donation from AWE to help them compete in a world-wide robot competition. The school’s Lego club is taking part in the First Lego League Challenge which sees young people design, build and program an autonomous robot to solve a series of missions. The Vyne […]

Local gardening charity Thrive has received a donation of £11,520 from AWE to benefit clients attending its Reading centre. The donation goes towards client gardeners’ attendance at weekly sessions, where they receive bespoke support from Thrive’s horticultural therapists. Thrive is one of the leading gardening for health charities and has been AWE’s charity partner for […]

An AWE donation to the South Central Ambulance Charity is providing specialist equipment to help Community First Responders with swift responses to medical callouts. A central part of the Charity’s work is the recruiting and training of local volunteers who assist with life threatening emergencies.  The AWE Charity Fund’s donation is supporting local Community First […]

AWE marked International Women’s Day on March 8 – a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women and raising awareness about gender equality. This year’s theme ‘Choose to Challenge’ was reflected in a series of events. On the day, AWE staff had the opportunity to hear from keynote speaker Zeb […]

AWE is marking British Science Week with new activities that complement our ongoing STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) outreach work with local schools and students. These include our STEM ambassadors and apprentices developing presentations on varied topics, as a visual and engaging way for young learners to discover more about science. This series of presentations […]

The latest issue of Connect contains details of AWE’s Responsible Business Report that sets out how we operate as a business and manage our long-term impacts on society and the environment. The full report can be seen here. You can also read about our work with education and charity partners and achievements during 2020.

A Covid-compliant Christmas charity collection at AWE produced hundreds of kilos of food, plus toys and toiletries. Altogether, 560 kilos of food, 15 boxes of toiletries and clothes and 150 toys were donated by staff. The food was packed into hampers and will go to Basingstoke Trussell Food Bank, the toiletries and clothes to Nishkam […]

AWE has made a £5,000 donation to its charity partner Thrive. The funding is going towards personal protective equipment (PPE) allowing staff and clients to safely return to its Reading centre and continue its work as one of the leading gardening for health charities. This is AWE’s third year supporting Thrive and the donation has […]

AWE’s Charity Fund has made a £1,000 donation to Citizens Advice in Tadley. The funding is going towards PPE allowing staff and volunteers to safely return to the Citizens Advice office so they can continue to provide advice, support and information to local people. AWE’s donation has helped purchase screen dividers for use at desks, […]

The AWE Charity Fund has made a £550 donation to Greenham and Crookham Conservation Volunteers (GCCV) allowing the purchase of various tools to help the group’s conservation work. Greenham and Crookham Commons, near Newbury, are an area of open grassland and heathland forming the largest continuous tract of open heath in Berkshire. The area is […]

AWE’s Charity Fund has made a £1,000 donation to Basingstoke Foodbank to support the local community. Basingstoke Foodbank is part of a nationwide network of foodbanks, supported by The Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK. The donation will go towards Basingstoke Foodbank providing local emergency food and support to those […]

To celebrate World Environment Day on June 5, AWE has invited year 4 and 5 pupils to take part in a creative challenge. This year’s theme is biodiversity and children from North Hampshire and West Berkshire are invited to submit their design for a bug hotel. There are prizes to be won and those up […]

AWE is continuing its support for charity partner Thrive over the coming year. Thrive uses gardening to bring about positive changes in the lives of people living with disabilities or ill health, or who are isolated, disadvantaged or vulnerable. Over the last two years, AWE has supported Thrive through a mixture of fundraising and donations, […]

AWE is working with the Ministry of Defence and wider HM Government who are providing direction regarding the management of the limited stocks of PPE available nationally. We are providing personal protective equipment (PPE) where we can, such as protective overshoes and respirator masks to local hospitals. To help increase local 999 emergency response capacity, […]

Following a two-year partnership, the generosity of AWE and staff has seen its charity partner Bucket List Wishes (BLW) able to grant 20 wishes for terminally ill adults in the Hampshire and West Berkshire region. The local charity helps those with a life-limiting diagnosis achieve one wish from their bucket list. Through its fund-raising efforts […]