A charity hopes to help kids blossom through a new growing project.

Volunteers behind Ruddi’s Retreat are busy raising money to help create a community garden and allotment behind their Vintage Treat Rooms on Manchester Road in Linthwaite, which they hope will get children off the street and into the garden, as well as providing them with produce for the cafe’s meals.

The idea has been thought up by Ali Jones, the charity’s founder and mum of brave cancer survivor Ruddi Waterworth-Jones, now aged six, whose team need £4,000 to £5,000 to create a vegetable patch and an adjoining safe decking area with a fence on around half an acre of land.

She said: “We wanted to do something for the community and thought it would be a good use for the spare land that we have.

“Our aim is to get local children to come along and learn how to grow vegetables.

“It will give them something positive to do in their spare time and will encourage them to eat better and learn a new skill which they can use throughout their lives.

“One of our volunteers is a very keen gardener so once we have raised the money and set the allotment up she help give regular lessons to children and at the end of their time helping out they will get a certificate.”

It is the latest project for the charity which opened its tea room in May and is also raising money to buy a holiday lodge for children battling serious illnesses. It also has caravans on the east coast for family holidays.

Ali Jones with Ruddi Waterworth-Jones aged 6

One of the recent donors to the allotment project was Kirklees Council’s Rural District Committee which gave £620 .

Ali said: “It’s quite a big project but fundraising is going well so far and we have already cleared the space with the help of students on the National Citizenship Service.

“Hopefully it will be up and running later this year so that the first crops will be ready for picking early 2016.”

Ruddi’s Retreat will also be hosting a 3.5km Minions-inspired colour run at Linthwaite Cricket Club from noon on September 27, to raise money for the charity.

Tickets cost £10 for adults and £6 for children.

To make a donation, call 01484 766050 and to buy colour run tickets, search for Minion Colour Run at www.eventbrite.co.uk

Land at the back of Ruddi's Vintage Treat Rooms