Customers and staff enjoyed a late summer barbeque this week to show off their newly transformed garden at Ivydale Road scheme.

The event marks the end of months of hard work to turn an overgrown ‘jungle’ into a place of beauty that can be enjoyed long into the future.  

The project was taken forward as a partnership between the Greening communities initiative, Care and Support staff and customers themselves.

We started with a strawberry planting day in June where customers discussed what they would like to see their space. This was followed up by a ‘big dig’ where customers and the new business team pitched in to tackle the weeds.

Raised planters were put in that are now planted up with winter vegetables and customers created a mosaic which is proudly displayed on the wall facing the garden.

They also have a new seating area, table tennis table and badminton net so they can make full use of their garden.

John Schofield, Group Director for Research and Development said, “having seen the garden before it was re-landscaped, I can testify to the amazing transformation it has undergone. Angus and his team have done a remarkable job; it is a great example of bringing staff from different services together to achieve an outcome that should deliver benefits for years to come.”

Leevan, who’s shown real commitment throughout the project said ‘it’s been brilliant. I liked learning about the new plants and think this kind of things would be really good at other schemes like ours.'