A Sanctuary live matching event connected Doug’s Maintenance Services Limited with The Garden Classroom and funded a residential camp for young people who needed it most

Twelve years of taking young people outside

The Garden Classroom has spent 12 years taking young people out of classrooms and into the Kent countryside. Their residential camps at Hobbs Hill, where they have been guardians for over a decade, are built on a simple conviction that time in nature builds something in young people that no lesson plan can replicate.

Their camps are designed for pupils who face real barriers. Challenges like social and emotional difficulties, learning differences and the things which can make school feel isolating and the future feel distant. The Garden Classroom works with these young people precisely because they are the ones who benefit most from what the countryside offers: space, fresh air, peer connection, and the confidence that comes from navigating something new.

Fifteen pupils, one train journey and £400 standing in the way

For their summer 2026 programme, The Garden Classroom identified 15 pupils with learning differences from Elthorne Park High School in Ealing. In a borough where 35% of children live in income-deprived households, many of these young people had never experienced a residential trip or spent meaningful time in the countryside.

The cost of getting them there was £400. Train tickets for 15 pupils and 5 adults return, from West Ealing to Cowden. The Garden Classroom listed the project on Sanctuary’s Match My Project site and the right business found them.

Nearly 20 years of putting community first

Doug’s Maintenance Services Limited is a full service property maintenance company with nearly 20 years of experience working across the South East. They deliver repairs, planned works, facilities management, gardening, cleaning and caretaking to local authorities, commercial clients and private customers alike.

But what sets them apart is what sits alongside the day job. They sponsor local clubs, work at reduced rates for charities, and invest in people through apprenticeships, training and business start-up support. Social Value is built into how they operate. Their aim, as they put it, is to bring clients and residents together to help each other and improve people’s lives.

The match that started in a room

Match My Project exists to connect businesses like Doug’s Maintenance Services with community organisations like The Garden Classroom – surfacing the right opportunities for businesses that want their Social Value contributions to land where they’re needed. When Sanctuary hosted a live matching event in April 2026, both were in the room.

Tim Sheppard from Doug’s Maintenance Services met Anna Haworth from The Garden Classroom face to face. The connection was immediate. By the time the formal match was confirmed on the platform, the decision had already been made.

“Having attended the Sanctuary Live Match My Project event last week and met Anna from The Garden Classroom, we are happy to support their work with a £400 donation to assist with transport. We are delighted to be supporting such a worthy cause.”

Tim Sheppard, Doug’s Maintenance Services Limited

From first introduction to completion, the project was, as Doug’s noted, very swift.

Three Social Value outcomes and one week in Kent

Projects only go live once they’ve been verified and mapped to local outcome priorities, so businesses always know exactly where their contribution will land. The Garden Classroom’s project was aligned across three Social Value outcome areas identified by Sanctuary: Jobs and Skills, Resilience and Connection, and Environmental.

But it was the in-person event that turned alignment into action. Without it, the match would not have happened.

“Without the Sanctuary in-person matching event in April, we would not have been able to make this match. We are very grateful for the opportunity and would be pleased to attend similar events in the future.”

Anna Haworth, The Garden Classroom

What the journey means

For the 15 pupils from Ealing, the train journey to Kent was part of the experience. Navigating public transport, arriving somewhere new, sleeping outside the city: these built resilience in ways that are hard to measure and impossible to forget.

At camp, the pupils built connections with peers, developed life skills, and spent time in the countryside that many had never had access to.

About Match My Project

Match My Project connects community organisations with local businesses to deliver Social Value. Every project is verified and outcome-aligned by the contracting authority before it goes live. On average it takes community organisations eight minutes to add a project to the platform. Get in touch at hello@matchmyproject.org to find out how your organisation can get started.