Nursery school children in Biggleswade brighten up the community with gardening project

Green fingered little gardeners from a Biggleswade nursery rolled up their sleeves for a community gardening project.

The youngsters from Busy Bees planted herbs and flowers at a community event after teaming up with Grand Union Housing Group and The Hill Group - who also provided handmade, recycled planters.

The gardening project aimed to sow the seeds for a lasting connection between Busy Bees and the Extra Care scheme, Sorrel Gardens.

The nursery has already had heavy involvement in the development, with the children providing artwork to be displayed on the hoarding.

Laura Howard, Assistant Centre Director at Busy Bees Biggleswade Saxon Centre, said: “We are honoured to be able to have the opportunity to work with Grand Union Housing Group and the Hill Group to make a difference in the community.

“As a centre, we want to be able to help use recycled wood and make amazing projects out of these.

"It's great to teach the children about the community and how we can help others around us. The children really enjoyed helping plant the flowers and herbs and we are all very proud of them.”

Karen Nicholson, Community Investment Manager at Grand Union, said: “The benefits of intergenerational work are clearly evidenced and are working with Hill and Busy Bees.

"I am really excited to see how we can develop more intergenerational projects between our customers living in Sorrel Gardens and the children at the nursery.”

Mick Clarke, Site Manager at Hill, added: “Creating social value to the local community is a passion for us at Hill.

"This project to provide recycled planters for the children at Busy Bees has been a wonderful way to offer the children something educational and experimental, teaching them the joy of growing something from seed.”

Work is well underway to finish Sorrel Gardens – with 93 apartments for those over 55 with an identified care need, 68 of which will be for social rent and 25 for shared ownership sale.