Customers, children and Futures colleagues created their own community garden in a village in Derbyshire last week.
Raspberries, spring onions and parsnips were just some of the fruit and vegetables planted on a large open green space on King William Street, Ironville. Four raised planters were built and filled with fruit and vegetable seeds, as well as paths and bushes cleared, and new flowers and shrubs planted.
Watch our summary video of what we got up to on the day!
It’s thanks to the local communities’ feedback that the idea for the garden sprouted. Hannah Albrighton, Communities Housing Officer at Futures said: “Over the summer I spoke to customers who live in the area to find out what they’d like to happen with the space and see how we could help. They told me they were keen for a community garden to be made, so I started organising a day for us all to work together and transform the area.”
Grounds maintenance colleagues chatted with children about the plants, and many young ones also picked up a paintbrush to join in the half-term fun, as five benches around the green space got a fresh lick of paint and a new coat on the wooden planters too.
Rhys Evans, a Futures customer said: “I think it’s good for us all to have something we can do. It’s improved the look of the space, and I think it’ll improve the community spirit as well if everybody gets involved. I grow my own vegetables anyway, but hopefully we can grow vegetables together and people can eat their own grown food.”
Hannah added: “It's been brilliant! Everyone worked so hard and it’s amazing to see what can be done in the space of a day. I’m looking forward to seeing all the tasty homegrown food the community can make in the future.”
Being more visible in our communities and getting them involved in community projects is one of ten customer pledges we set in our recently released customer engagement strategy. The strategy clearly sets out how and why we’ll do more to take account of customer views. If you’re already feeling inspired about a project you’d like to see near your home, then please let us know! You can give us feedback about where you live in our online form here, while we can’t promise we’ll say yes to everything, our communities team will help as much as they can.
