Seeds of Hope were dispatched in little paper envelopes to communities across Scotland – including West Dunbartonshire.
The heart-warming Seeds of Hope idea stemmed from a woman looking for ways to stay connected with her elderly father, hundreds of miles away in London.
Serena explained: “I was looking for something to keep him active and feeling positive, I love gardening and have an allotment so I thought I would send him some vegetable seeds, I also put in a couple of cornflower seeds. It really cheered him up.
“So I thought, what about other people who would benefit from some wildflowers – and that was how it started.”
Serena phoned round all the suppliers of wildflower seed in the country and was quickly offered donations from Scotia Seeds and John Chambers – enough to get started and fill 2 – 3,000 seed packets.
But she had set herself a target of 10,000, so to celebrate her 40th birthday at the start of lockdown she set up a Crowdfunder to raise £800 to buy more seeds and cover postage and packaging costs.
She also designed a postcard to go with the seeds explaining how to plant them and their aim “to create a patchwork of beauty and wildlife this summer, bringing a bit of joy at a difficult time.”
With seeds and postcards ready to go Serena started publicising the initiative on social media asking local charities and small businesses to help her distribute the wildflowers right across Scotland.
At Clydesider Creative we learned about Serena’s project on social media and contacted her to ask if we could help spread her seeds in WD.
She kindly sent us 500 packets of seeds, which we’re asking our community partners to pop in with some of the magazines.
Sitting up into the early hours of the morning Serena has dispatched 7,500 seed packets to people across the country and hearing from some of the recipients inspires her through the long hours of envelope filling.
“I’ve heard from people all over the country about how the flowers are making a difference and it makes me quite emotional.
“I’ve been incredibly humbled and amazed by the wonderful groups who have partnered up with me.
“So many groups have contacted me and every time they send me information about what they do I’m so inspired by how amazing people are and how they are supporting people through this crisis.
“I feel really privileged to have made their acquaintance in this way.”
If you were one of the lucky 500 please find a spot for them and if you can send us a photo as they grow we would love to see it.