Palace invite for garden bath charity founder

The man behind a community charity that turns old baths into flower beds has been invited to Buckingham Palace to meet King Charles.

Dave Poulton of Up the Garden Bath in Peterborough will attend a royal garden party on 14 May, celebrating people working in education and skills.

Mr Poulton runs the project from Central Park in the city, with the support of volunteers.

The old baths help teach people about gardening, recycling, sustainability and wildlife preservation - as well as equipping them with practical DIY skills.

Mr Poulton said it was "an amazing honour" to be invited to the palace and see the work of the charity getting royal acknowledgement.

"It's an amazing accolade, but Up the Garden Bath isn't about me, it's about everyone," he said.

"It's a real community project that helps people learn new skills.

"We take old bathtubs, we save them from landfill, we upcycle them into educational garden planters and then we install them in locations across Cambridgeshire."

Mr Poulton said the educational workshops had been delivered to about 30,000 people.

The Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, Julie Spence, recommended the charity to the King.

"She loves our sustainability and our ethos, it's a great honour," he said.

Michal Mendal, 35, who has post-traumatic stress disorder, has been volunteering for the past two years with the charity, following an initial six-week internship.

He said the experience had greatly helped with his mental health.

"I was in a really bad place when I started working with Dave," he said.

"I wasn't able to go out from my home, I wasn't able to work with anyone, and have a proper conversation with people. It's helped me a lot."

Mr Mendal, who arrived from Poland 12 years ago, now volunteers for two other local charities.

"I'm trying to go back to the workplace as well, work part-time and help the community," he said.

Up the Garden Bath was set up in 2020 and is now a community interest company.

The organisation runs UNITY, a community shop in Queensgate, which sells products from 50 small businesses which help fund the charity.

Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.