Local Community Projects

Here at Simpsons, being part of the community is so important to us. As an independent  business, established in the heart of Inverness, we have grown since we opened in 2000 thanks to the support of our customers from across Inverness and the Highlands.

We know, now more than ever, how important being part of the local community is and how important gardening is for our physical and mental well-being. Many of the groups we support have gardening and green therapy at the heart of what they are doing.

School and Community Gardening Projects

Does your school or community group need a bit of help improving your garden space? As part of our 25th birthday celebrations in 2025 we will be supporting a number of projects across Inverness, the Highlands and close to our store in Aberdeenshire.

Cash for Kids, Festive Charity Partner

This year the teams in store fundraised for Cash for Kids, raising nearly £12,000 for the charity.

Our Inverness store held it’s annual Festive Ladies Night which raised £10,000 in support of Cash for Kids, with additional donations collected in store across the festive season.

Our Mintlaw store collected over £1500 in donations across the festive season.

This partnership allowed us to support this amazing local charity who provide such important support to families across the North of Scotland and Aberdeenshire, and huge thanks go to our team and our amazing customers for their generosity in supporting our fundrasing.

Bee on Board

This year we have been celebrating pollinators! In particular the importance of planting for the bees and encouraging more wildlife spaces across the Highlands and Aberdeenshire. It’s been really exciting to have loads of people and businesses sign up to our campaign. As well as share their experiences, people have shared photos of their outdoor spaces, what they are doing to help the bee population and encourage wildlife into the gardens. Find out more about the campaign and how you can get involved below.

Local Community Projects

Contributing towards and supporting local and community garden projects is something we are passionate about. This year we have been honoured and privileged to see the evolution of many local projects that we have proudly supported. Here are just a few of them:

Mikeysline Welcome

Mikeysline fundraising team visit us regularly to raise awareness about the amazing work they do across our region. This allows our customers and our team to ask questions and find out about support the charity. This year we also supported the charity by donating plants to refresh containers in their entrance hub. This allowed their volunteers to creating a welcome and colourful area for visitors to enjoy. Find out more about Mikeysline HERE

In Store Defibrillator

In October 2022, we made the decision to invest in and instal a defibrillator in store. This is for use of the community and for the peace of mind of our team and customers. Through a donation to Highland Hospice our defibrillator was donated by and installed by local business LIFEAid.

Dalneigh Community Garden

Well done to everyone involved in the development of the garden area at the James Cameron Centre in Dalneigh. We were delighted to support the project by donating a giant bag of daffodil bulbs last year. The bulbs will help create a bright and welcoming burst of colour every spring!

It was also lovely to hear that children from Dalneigh Primary have been involved with the garden, voting overwhelmingly to name the space ‘The Butterfly Garden’. The garden area is open to the public as a focal point and meeting space in the Dalneigh community and beyond, If you would like to visit or volunteer your services in the garden just pop into the reception of the centre.

Supporting Schools

Inspiring the next generation of horticulturalists and avid wildlife enthusiasts is what drives our support for schools outdoor spaces and garden projects. This year alone we have donated over £1,000 to local schools to support their learning, along with donating a number of seed packets for them to grow both their minds and very own plants/veg.

Local School Visits

Our outdoor team welcomed several local schools into the garden centre this year through planned visits to learn all about Simpsons and the importance of gardening. Following COVID, it was fantastic to re-introduce these visits with our team and with such positive feedback from the schools, pupils and teachers, we look forward to welcoming more schools next year.  Hopefully this will encourage a whole new generation of Highland Horticulturalists!