Leo Trust – what an amazing place!

by Jan Deane, Fundraising Manager

My first sight of the Leo Trust at Boldshaves Oast took me totally by surprise. What an amazing place, a converted oast house in the middle of the beautiful Kent countryside. And my visit got even better as people came out to introduce themselves and welcome me to their home.

The whole atmosphere is one of calm and friendliness and it was lovely to meet some of the people who are supported to live there, both in the main oast house and in the smaller converted cottage or wooden cabins. My tour took in the woodcrafts studio where people were working on high quality products and clearly having a good time.

There was a real feeling of pride and this came across from the founder, Joe, to the support worker running the horticultural project, to the gentleman working hard on the compost heap.

My visit to the second property run by the Leo Trust, called the Croft, in the village of Woodchurch, was equally inspirational. A lovely, friendly staff team welcomed me in to meet the residents and I was invited to join in a karaoke session in the middle of the afternoon.

Everywhere I went, I was greeted with smiles and a warm welcome, and a feeling of belonging to a very special place.