Pupils ‘revive’ tree nursery with food and garden waste

Ellie Heywood (10) Ethan Towers (8) from St. Edwards CE. Primary School, Rochdale and Aneesa Ahmed from Matthew Moss High (16)

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Recycle for Greater Manchester has donated over a tonne of Revive compost to Matthew Moss High School.

The donated Revive Compost will be used in Springfield Park, Rochdale. Pupils have given a forgotten corner of the park a new lease of life, turning it into a tree nursery.

Matthew Moss High school share and maintain the tree nursery with local primary schools, St Edwards, Castleton, Marland Hill and Brimrod Primary School.

Trees are then replanted into the community spaces. Some of the trees will be relocated to the Roch Valley Forest Schools site which was once a neglected area used for fly tipping. This area will be used as an outdoor learning space for local schools.

Roy Down, the Outdoor Learning Co-ordinator at Matthew Moss said: “Without the support of organisations such as Recycle for Greater Manchester and Viridor, we wouldn’t be able to carry on with our project. We have very little in the way of funding, so donations, like the Revive Compost, are a real life-line.”

The high quality multi-purpose peat-free compost is made from Greater Manchester’s household food and garden waste and is available to buy from 10 locations.

Roy Down also said: “We are always looking for new partners to work with, so if anybody out there in the business community would like to help us in any way, please contact the school.’

All the food and garden waste collected from Greater Manchester homes is processed at In-Vessel Composting facilities (IVC) in Rochdale, Stockport and Trafford.

From leftover meat and vegetables to grass cuttings and twigs to tea bags, the whole lot is turned into compost in just six weeks.

To make the compost suitable to be used at home it is blended with forestry bi-products such as sawdust and husks.

The high quality compost is produced to an approved British Standard and follows the Compost Quality Protocol, which provides reassurance for its use as a multi-purpose peat free compost.