Ripon Community Link (Charity number: 1049030) was formally registered in 1995 and supports adults and young people with learning difficulties. We offer a caring, happy, nurturing learning environment for our service users, known as Members.

Members are offered a wide variety of supported activities to develop skills and grow in confidence, with a focus on community integration. We promote independence, providing educational opportunities and practical work experience.

Now fully based at Ripon Walled Garden we have the historic Walled Garden, previously the Bishops Palace Kitchen gardens, small Garden Centre, Victorian Orchard, and Woodland. Here we offer training and supported activities in horticultural, retail and catering enterprises, allowing practical work, and learning experiences alongside a timetable of classroom-based activities including drama, arts and crafts, numeracy and literacy, dance and sports. rambling group. The Charity also provides community benefit, for example we have a recycling group who collect recycling from several venues. Our Members all have choice about which activities to participate in.

We have operated fully over the pandemic, at the same time improving facilities on site so that we could reopen and operate safely in bubbles. Now fully re-opened we are progressing with a project to offer more opportunities to more Members in work-based activities to support their learning, development, and independent living skills.

Our intention is to replace the polytunnel adjacent to the plant sales area with a wooden bespoke shop and café facility. This will offer both year-round, warm, dry and insulated retail space and a small café with counter service, whilst enabling our Members to interact with our community and further develop inclusion and social skills.

The retail space will give opportunity to broaden our range of items for sale, with Member made items in arts and crafts, woodwork, cards, and supplemented with bought in items alongside produce from the Garden kitchen, appealing to a wide range of customers.

The café will be front of house for the garden kitchen, a serving point for a menu of hot and cold drinks, ice creams and snacks all which Members will be involved in serving. We are excited about all that this project will bring to the local Community.