Furnley House, a leading Leicestershire independent financial adviser, is partnering with another local firm Willsow, to provide plantable children’s books to St Patrick’s School in Leicester.
The firm’s charitable organisation, The Furnley House Foundation, has provided all 223 students at the St Patricks Catholic Voluntary Academy school with a book as a thank you for the generous donations made for its Christmas Shoebox Appeal last year where the children donated supplies of toiletries, clothes, food and treats for the homeless.
Willsow’s innovative, educational and environmentally minded plantable books received national exposure last night after being featured on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den programme and attracting investment from Sara Davies.
The books are unique and the pages are made from seed paper that when planted in soil grow into the vegetable featured in the story. They aim to show how we all can do our part to recycle, grow our own food and look after the environment at the same time,
In addition to this donation, The Furnley House Foundation is running further initiatives to support Leicester schools and the local community over the coming months including another schools competition which launched on Friday14th May.
Stefan Fura (pictured), Founder at Furnley House said:
“We are proud of our Leicestershire roots and recognise how important it is for us to lead by example in our community. We have a Leicester heart and fully intend to make sure Furnley House doesn’t just operate in the area but helps to ensure it thrives economically, socially and environmentally. For that reason we are thrilled to be able to work together with Willsow, another like-minded local business to invest into our community.
Fura continues:
‘The children at St Patrick’s School all showed that they too have the best possible local principles and pride via their fantastic donations to our shoebox appeal last year. Providing these books is just one way for us to express our gratitude to them for their giving spirit and charitable attitude.”
Charlotte Lynch Head Teacher at St. Patrick’s School said:
“These books are a fantastic way to get our students engaged with thinking about sustainability and connecting with how food is actually grown. We want to thank Furnley House and Willsow for this amazing gesture and look forward to seeing all the veg grown by our students over the next few months!”
Tom Willday, founder at Willsow said:
“We are absolutely delighted to be teamed up with Furnley House on a mission to educate future generations on sustainability. They are running a great initiative for the local community and we jumped at the chance to be involved! Willsow books are fantastic because you can read the amazing stories, plant the back page and grow real herbs and vegetables – meaning they can meet the main characters! We hope the students of St Patrick’s find this an exciting and engaging way to learn about sustainability while being out in the fresh air and in touch with nature.”
