Volunteers create veggie garden

Groundwork Prince’s Trust Team with members of the Spotland Women’s Association

A group of seven young people from across Rochdale have teamed up to revamp and restructure the garden at Spotland and Falinge Community Centre.

The team of volunteers have come together as part of the Prince’s Trust Team programme delivered by Groundwork Oldham and Rochdale. The community project element of the programme involves making physical improvements to a worthy cause in the local area.

Team member Laura Hawkins, 17, from Spotland, said: “We chose Spotland and Falinge Community Centre as we thought it would have the biggest benefit throughout the local community and increase the use of the centre during these hard times.”

Following a range of planning and fundraising sessions, the Team worked hard to clean the garden and create a large vegetable growing area. This will enable Spotland and Falinge service users to produce their own herbs and vegetables which they can distribute within the community.

In addition to clearing the land and preparing the growing beds, the Team also jet washed all the flags and painted the walls to the rear of the building.

Saima Mahmood, Centre Development Manager at Spotland and Falinge Community Centre, added: “The Groundwork Prince’s Trust Team has done a fantastic job in producing a veggie garden and allotments site.

“We’ve seen the young people hard at work in the worst weather conditions and they’ve always remained positive and been respectful to our other service users.

“The veggie garden is a fantastic addition to our centre and the women’s group will be very happy to maintain and grow healthy fruit, veg and herbs.”

The volunteers completed this project as part of the 13-week Groundwork Prince’s Trust Team programme aimed at developing skills and improving the chances of gaining employment.