A GREEN FINGERED eight-year-old has seen her investments grow into a sizeable donation to charity.
During lockdown Isla Bishop, from Finchampstead, has been growing cacti. She recently held a garden sale, inviting friends and neighbours to choose one of more than 50 to take home in exchange for a gift to Cancer Research UK.
And she smashed her fundraising target of £150 – so far, she has received £515 of donations.
Isla said: “During the lockdown, I spent lots of time in the garden and that’s when I started to develop my new interest for cacti.
“I started with succulent plants, noticing that a leaf from a succulent plant had fallen off. I tried to plant it as an experiment and it worked, so that’s when I thought I can try a similar method with different cacti.”
She then planted cuttings and looked after them until they formed roots.
“They don’t need much water, but wet compost while the roots are establishing,” she said, adding: “It was quite difficult to cultivate them as some of them have spikes.”
The love of cacti runs in the family – Isla’s mum has a 16-year-old plant. And, she added: “I’m half Italian and when we visit Italy I see Cacti everywhere and I found them fascinating. I think they are strange unusual plants with spikes.”
The Nine Mile Ride Primary School pupil was delighted with the success of her sale, which saw her set up her lockdown homeschooling table as a salespoint, and lines marked out for social distancing.
“I’m very pleased and proud that I’ve raised more than I expected,” she said. “Lots of friends and family have really supported me for my chosen charity.
“I had my little sister Matilda and my best friend Priya helping me.
“I meant to go outside to sell them for a few hours, but ended up staying there for the entire weekend because people kept coming, I wasn’t expecting it.”
And she received other forms of support: “I talked to the customers, my friend gave hand sanitiser, my little sister gave the plant and I put the money in the pot.
“It was a great event, we even had chocolate biscuits hidden behind the tree to eat when we didn’t have any customers.”
Isla also appreciated the social aspect of the sale: “I met lots of my neighbours that I haven’t met before and they were very generous to support me,” she said.
“I feel lucky to live in such a nice community in Finchampstead.”
Maria Gomez-Baldwin, Cancer Research UK’s senior local fundraising manager for Berkshire, said: “We’d like to say a big thank you and well done to Isla, Matilda and Priya for raising such a fantastic amount of money for Cancer Research UK.
“What a clever and innovative way to not only learn about growing a living thing, but also to raise money to support vital research that will help cancer patients in the future.”
