The Oxford charity Restore have received a new ECHO chainsaw donated by UK distributor Ariens Company Limited, whose UK head office is in Great Haseley.


Lucy Browse, Restore’s Trusts and Partnerships Fundraiser and Brian Corcoran, Gardening Facilitator

Restore provides innovative rehabilitation employment and training support for people with mental health problems, providing gardening, allotment and craft activities to assist the process. The charity's gardening activities are centred around the development and management of beautiful, restful and publicly-accessible gardens at each of their sites.

Members benefitting from their work are involved in all the activities from planning layouts, designing planting schemes and then carrying out the work to create and maintain the gardens.

The ECHO CS-310 chainsaw will be put to use in three of Restore's recovery group sites - two in Oxford and one in Didcot. 

Brian Corcoran, Gardening Facilitator at Restore says, "We're very pleased that Ariens Company has given us this fantastic chainsaw. It will be put to great use when we're coppicing our willow and hazel in the autumn and removing self-set trees on our allotment sites."

Darren Spencer, European Manager at Ariens Company Limited added: "We're also very happy to see ECHO tools making such a worthwhile contribution to helping people enjoy gardening and gaining confidence to get back into work."

The outcomes for those participating in the activities run by the charity are a sense of achievement - leading to improved self-confidence and self-esteem. They enjoy improved social contact, reduced isolation and better teamwork skills through working with others. There are also opportunities to learn new skills with the possibility of a formal qualification for those who want to take one.

Overall, physical as well as mental health can be improved through participation in outdoor activities. As one member at Restore says: "I've just started gardening and I imagined I'd get all wet and dirty, but I love it - seeing things grow that we planted. Four weeks ago I started part-time temp work again. When I was ill I thought that I would never work again. I feel so much more positive - I actually have a future."