THE lawns at Risdon Farm will be kept prim and proper thanks to a kind donation of a brand new mower.

Mow Direct, an online supplier of lawnmowers and garden tractors, has donated a Mountfield S421PD mower to the Gilead Foundations charity, based at the farm in Jacobstowe. The donation is particularly timely, as the charity's previous lawnmower was loaned from a supporter of the charity, and needed to be returned.

Gilead Foundations provides a residential rehabilitation programme for vulnerable adults who are dealing with life controlling addictions such as alcoholism.

Their programme is comprised of two phases — a 30-week relapse prevention programme and a 20-week resettlement into society.

Therapy for those in relapse prevention is provided through working on the farm. Training is given in animal husbandry, milk retail, building and maintenance, and other various fields alongside basic life skills.

The charity runs alongside the business and training of the umbrella social enterprise company, Risdon Enterprises CIC. The farm business helps financially to sustain the work of the rehabilitation programme.

Jo Drew from the Gilead Foundations charity expressed her thanks to Mow Direct for the donation.

For more information on the charity's work, visit http://www.gilead.org.uk">www.gilead.org.uk