Pupils get helping hand in the garden

Pupils at a north Shropshire school have had a helping hand to see how their garden grows and produce their own fruit and vegetables.

The gardening club at Whitchurch Junior School in Salisbury Road sees the youngsters grow produce which can then be used in school lunches. Now the project has had a boost after volunteers visited the school to help clear an area where a wild flower garden will go and to overhaul the vegetable patch.

Staff from Equity Housing Group and Liberty joined forces to support the gardening club project.

The companies said the scheme was just a part of a programme of community projects which Equity was planning jointly with its main repairs contractors.

Employees recently spent a day at the school, working hard to clear an area where the new garden will be planted.

They also overhauled and renewed a pond area and provided a shed that will now be used by pupils to store their equipment.

The club is already proving a hit with the children and its aim is to educate pupils about where their food comes from and encourage them to grow their own food at home.

Sacha Pilkington, a teacher at the school, has set up the gardening club and said: "We are really pleased with the results.

"The teams worked hard to complete the project in a day and provide us with storage for our equipment.

"The pond and wild flower areas will attract wildlife and be used as part of our lessons with the children."

Emma Lafferty, project manager at Equity, said: "We're delighted to be able to give our support and we've been impressed with what has been achieved so far. Everyone who took part has really enjoyed the day and got a lot out of it.

"We think it's really important to work with our partners like Liberty to support community projects like this."