Local charity Monty’s Community Hub has undertaken a series of special community projects to support people across Southampton, thanks to a grant of £1,000 from Hartford Care.
Last year, to celebrate the opening of Moorhill, its new care home on Moorhill Road, Southampton, Hartford Care launched its inaugural community fund and encouraged local community groups, charities and organisations to apply for the £1,000 grant. Monty’s Community Hub, which offers a collaborative community space where local people offer their skills, time and energy to creatively address local needs and develop local solutions, was the worthy recipient.
Six months on, Katherine Cooper, Adults and Community Coordinator at Monty’s Community Hub, explains how the £1,000 grant has helped them:
“We were incredibly grateful to win the grant, we have used the money across many different projects, and we thought it was particularly apt that we used some of it towards activities for older adults, given it came from a care home company.
This includes Monty’s Majors, a weekly group which addresses loneliness and is open to older people or those living alone. It’s a popular group and provides a warm space for people to come along for a cup of tea and good conversation.
The money has also gone towards cooking instruments and refreshments for attendees at our apple crumble making session and hot chocolate for our wonderful volunteers, plus heating and lighting costs, at our annual Santa train event, which is magical in itself, as a local resident built the train and allows us to use it each year, so children can meet Santa and receive a present.
We have also hosted two Christmas wreath workshops which were sellouts and we have lots of groups involved in our community garden project, which is open to the public, and involved local primary school children who helped with planting. We’ve cultivated tomatoes, green beans, strawberries and courgettes to name a few and at the end of the season we were able to host a chutney making session with the green tomatoes grown here. It was lovely to have people of all ages so keen to help in the garden and feedback on the project was great, with one member of the community saying ‘I love the session, it was fantastic to spend time with adult friends and take respite from caring duties’.
We look forward to what 2026 brings and are thrilled to have had the help from Hartford Care.”
— Katherine Cooper, Adults and Community Coordinator at Monty’s Community Hub
Emma Jones, Operations Director at Hartford Care, comments:
“We are very proud to support and be a part of our local communities and the work undertaken by Monty’s Community Hub aligns perfectly with our own company ethos of ‘Creating Caring Communities’. We’re so pleased to see the grant has helped with lots of initiatives at the project and we look forward to hearing more exciting updates as the year goes on!”
— Emma Jones, Operations Director at Hartford Care
For more information on Monty’s Community Hub:
Phone: 07862 320025
Email: hub@montys.org.uk
For more information on Moorhill:
Moorhill Road, West End, Southampton, SO30 3AZ
Phone: 02381 800140
