DIY SOS-style plan to save barracks garden

Abi Bebb said she hoped to get the garden complete by 15 March

A construction firm is hoping to pull off a DIY-SOS style project to complete a wellbeing garden for soldiers.

R1 Construction stepped in to help when the original contractors for the job at the Clive Barracks, Shropshire, failed to complete the work.

Staff have been donating their time to get the work done and the company has appealed for financial donations and for supplies.

It is hoping to complete the job by 15 March, when the Royal Irish Regiment is due to hold a St Patrick's Day parade at the base.

Business operations manager Abi Bebb said the company had done community projects in the past and had worked in schools, but had not taken on a job like this.

She said pulling favours from their supply chain and workforce had been "a bit of a snowball effect".

But with a limited budget, she said they were "reliant on the community of Shropshire to see how far we can take this."

The Just Giving page which was set up asks for £2,500 and the company is also seeking donations of benches, fencing, topsoil and a memorial stone.

Work on the site was left unfinished by a previous contractor

Ms Bebb said her company was initially called in to offer some advice on how to salvage the project, but it soon became clear how much the garden meant to the people at the base.

It is designed to sit alongside the community centre at the barracks and give active servicemen and women somewhere to relax.

Ms Bebb said: "A lot of people there don't have a garden of their own, so this is a community garden which they can all share.

"You can really tell they care about their community centre, they're passionate about it."

The design for the garden includes pathways, green spaces and a memorial stone in the middle for soldiers to commemorate their fallen comrades.

Soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment are due to help with the work at the weekend and Ms Bebb said she hoped that in the future school groups could get involved in its upkeep.