Archive for category: News and Events

Normally our restaurant in Ottery is very busy on a Sunday, with 8 chefs, 14 kitchen assistants and 10 waiting staff managing our popular Sunday Roast service. Today two of our chefs were delighted to be back in the kitchen again – this time working on a voluntary basis, although unlike their usual work environment it has been very quiet in the kitchen!  Today…. you could hear a pin drop!

Although the restaurant is closed to customers, our two chefs – Neil & Arron – were kept very busy. The reason?  They have been making 300 school dinners for local schools for the children of key workers, and for delivery to vulnerable children.

We’d learned that one hard working school cook was being asked to cook school meals seven days a week for a fortnight over the Easter period. The schools have stayed open every day to support the children of key workers doing vital jobs to keep us all safe. Additionally, there are a number of vulnerable children who require a meal delivered to them each day.

As we have a large commercial kitchen currently standing empty, we volunteered to help by making and donating the meals so that the school cook can at least have two days off work next week.  When she learned she could have two days off the school cook was over the moon! Before the coronavirus outbreak she was due to be going away holiday over Easter, so not only was she missing her cancelled holiday, she was also expecting to have to be in work every day. We are so pleased to step in and help, and give her a bit of a break.

MD of Otter, Jacqui Taylor, has pledged that if the situation continues, Otter will be pleased to cook and supply meals each week. “Everyone wants to help the NHS teams and all key workers right now. We are thrilled that this is something practical that we can do, and it’s one way we can donate our help whilst we are closed.”

The ‘Otter School Meal Menu’ this week includes:

Roast chicken with roast potatoes and vegetables, home-made chicken pie with mash potatoes and vegetables, and home-made cottage pie with peas and carrots

And for the all-important pudding, an apple or orange, along with a slice of home-made flapjack or shortbread!

Mystery Spring Bedding Plants Pack worth £60, for just £30. Free delivery within 7 miles of our Ottery St Mary garden centre

WE ARE SORRY, WE HAVE NOW SOLD OUT OF THIS OFFER, PLEASE DON’T CONTACT US – WE ARE SORRY WE HAVE NO STOCK LEFT!

Our spring bedding pack offer has been put together to help ensure we save our plants, and that they go to good homes. With Easter around the corner, what could be a nicer time to cheer up the garden.

Each pack will be unique, made up with available spring bedding plants and will include one bag of compost. The pack may include pansies, primroses, polyanthus or other spring flowering plants. Although we can’t guarantee what plants you’ll receive, or the colours, we can guarantee the plants will bring instant colourful cheer to your garden! Included in each pack will be one 50L bag of Manor Farm all-purpose compost.

As we are working with a very small team at this difficult time, and with limited drivers we will only be able to deliver to addresses up to 7 miles distance from our garden centre in Gosford Road, Ottery St Mary, Devon and we will not be able to add any other products onto this delivery. (We will deliver to Sidford & Sidmouth).

Stocks were very limited  of these packs, and this offer sold out very quickly, we are very sorry that we can no longer accept any requests.

Deliveries will be made between Monday 6^th & Wednesday 8^th April. Our drivers are following safety procedures in line with current government advice and will leave the plant pack at your front door. We are sorry the drivers will not be able to lift the plants or compost into your house or to rear gardens.

Please include your full address with postcode and your phone number so we can contact you to arrange payment and confirm delivery. We cannot process requests without address & postcode details – sorry!

We are expecting a large response to this offer so we apologise that we may not get back to you immediately.

Thank you for your continued support we look forward to welcoming you back into our garden centres as soon as we are advised it is safe to do so.

Stay Home & Stay Safe from all the Otter team.

The charity team at our Ottery St Mary Garden Centre has revealed a fantastic total of over £11,500 raised for 2019 charity of the year, Hospiscare.

Branch Manager, John Giblin says “Our fundraising efforts were helped immensely by the help we had from the Otter Vale Friends of Hospiscare, a local group of volunteers who supported many of our fundraising activities. They were amazing and worked really hard to make the partnership a success, which is reflected in the brilliant amount raised.”

The volunteers were headed up by Steve Pearcy, whose wife received end of life support from the adult hospice charity.

Events run throughout the year included a tombola at the garden centre in April and another at the Ottery Food & Families Festival in June. Fundraising at staff-held quiz nights and two bingo nights, was terrific.

John says “On one of the bingo nights the weather was terrible and we were worried we’d have a low turnout – we were amazed as family members and friends of the Hospiscare volunteers kept coming through the doors – in the end the event was a huge success and on its own raised over £1,000 for the charity!”

Richard Cousins from Hospiscare adds: “I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the fundraising over the year; our amazing volunteers, all the wonderful staff at Otter Garden Centre, and customers who donated so generously. The money raised will cover the costs of 225 visits by Hospiscare nurses to patients in the East Devon area and will allow us as a charity to really make a difference in the local community.”

The branch will continue its support of Hospiscare in 2020 as the charity launches its Hospiscare@Home appeal in East Devon, and the volunteers from Otter Vale Friends are looking forward to another successful fundraising year and to equal – if not better – last year’s total.

The team at our Torbay garden centre has announced the total raised by the branch for the RNLI in the run up to Christmas. The announcement was celebrated with a visit from ‘Stormy Sam’.

Over £1,200 was raised in just three months for the charity that is reliant on voluntary donations to power its lifesaving work at sea, through the charity boxes at the tills and donations made to two popular animated displays which entertained customers over the Christmas period – musical polar bears and a group of singing reindeer. In addition, offcuts from Christmas trees were made available to customers to use as table decorations in exchange for a donation.

Julia Stone, Charity Champion at Otter Garden Centre Torbay said: “We only started the fundraising in October so we are delighted to hand over such a sizeable chunk of money to the Torbay branch of the RNLI. As always, thanks are due to all our customers who never fail to amaze us with their generosity.”

The team has decided to continue supporting the RNLI in 2020, and with such a great response in just three months the branch is really looking to push the boat out for the RNLI over a whole year. They will be organising various fundraising events which will include a photo competition and, back by popular demand, a fundraising head shave!

Lynn Spillett Chair of Torbay Lifeboat Fundraisers said that donations from local businesses such as Otter Garden Centre Torbay are vital in assisting the overall RNLI/Torbay Lifeboat fundraising in the Bay. “We very much appreciate and welcome their support.  All Otter Garden Centre donations go towards Saving Lives at Sea,” she explained.

Every year, volunteer RNLI lifeboat crews and lifeguards help and rescue thousands of people; they have saved well over 142,700 lives since the organisation was founded in 1824. The Torbay Lifeboat branch is based in Brixham, where the volunteer crews are frequently called out to all areas of Torbay, Lyme Bay and beyond when needed, helping to save lives at sea.

Check back on our Torbay web page for details of upcoming fundraising events.