Balsam House Raises Over £1,200 for St Margaret's Hospice

Thank you to everyone who turned up to see Balsam House on Sunday 15th of September. Thank you also to my parents, Angus and Jayne Hart who opened their doors in support of St Margaret's Hospice.

The event was organised with the help of Sue Medlicott, Community Fundraiser for the charity, and Linda Ireland, manager of both St Margaret's Hospice stores in Wincanton. Both thanked Angus and Jayne for their "tremendous generosity".

We all agreed that the event had been a huge success as an estimated 180 people visited the house and a total of £1,281 was raised for the charity.

The tour started out in one of the garages where my father, Angus Hart, gave a 30 minute presentation with "before" and "after" photos of the building. The groups then entered the house and were given a 30 minute tour of the ground floor by my mother, Jayne Hart.

The tours ran all day and I was kept busy providing Mum and Dad with cups of tea throughout. Outside in the gardens of the house the guests enjoyed home-made cakes from the volunteers of St Margaret's Hospice. Also in the garden were Moor Plants of Ashcott and local handicraft creator Jean Whitlock. Due to the weather a tent was generously loaned to us for the day from Gala Tents, part of the Evercreech-based business, Thompson Support Services.

On entering the house guests were pleased to see a warm family home where all the original charm of the building had been restored. Everyone was sad to hear of the damp and vandalism suffered by the property. They commented on "how courageous" my parents were to move in when they had no heating or substantial bathroom facilities.

The guests were impressed to hear how Angus had made all of the windows by hand, using glass panes found in one of the garages that are thought to have come from the old greenhouse. It was clear that both Angus and Jayne had taken a dedicated hands-on approach to restoring the property, as much of the work was done by them with the help of a few experienced professionals.

Angus and Jayne would like to say thank you to everyone for their kind comments. Both would have loved to spend more time talking with visitors about their previous experiences of the property as they are keen to find out more about what it used to be like.

Balsam House has become a wonderful family home and we hope it will stay that way for generations to come.

Comments

Login to comment!