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Green fingered pupils at Morecambe Community High School in Lancashire are looking forward to getting stuck into gardening, thanks to a donation of 10 tonnes of compost from leading recycling and waste management company, SITA UK.
Around 40 students aged between 11 and 18 are currently creating Morecambe Community High School’s first ever wildlife garden and allotment for both staff and pupils. The keen young gardeners started to prepare the site last December after Nigel Greenwood, a technology technician at the school and a gardening enthusiast, dreamt up the idea along with colleague Dr Phil Jumeau, to utilise some spare land behind the school sports hall.
The donation from SITA UK means that the garden can now get underway, with plans to use the compost to improve soil drainage, structure and nutrient levels in a series of raised beds, and will be ready for planting in the spring.
The garden will be used by pupils to grow a wide range of vegetables and will also form part of the science curriculum, with the youngsters learning about ecology and sustainability in the classroom.
Nigel Greenwood, Technology Technician at the school said: "We’d like to thank SITA UK for their help in getting the wildlife garden and allotment up and running. The pupils are very much looking forward to the gardening project and the good quality compost will be a big help in setting it up. As a result of the pupils’ enthusiasm, I am also setting up an after school gardening club.
"This ‘green’ project will also help us to gain membership of the Eco-Schools programme and contribute towards achieving Green Flag status."
Ray Walker, Assistant Manager for Compost Operations with SITA UK in Lancashire, said: "We know that there are thousands of people across Lancashire who use our compost at home which can be obtained in bags from their local household waste recycling centre to grow their own fruit and vegetables and we’re pleased to help the students at Morecambe Community High School in this way so they can join in the fun of gardening. It’s great to know that all the students are keen to get stuck in and grow their own produce."
