New garden space for green-fingered volunteers

Horticulturalist Esther Kovacs said the scheme created a space for wildlife and space to grow food

A recycling charity in Coventry which gives work experience to people with disabilities and learning difficulties is launching a new initiative to teach gardening skills.

The Gardening for Good project at Crow Recycling will see an outdoor area used for growing vegetables and flowers as well as providing a space for wildlife.

The charity, which was first established in 1985, has recently received lottery funding for the scheme which will launch in September.

There are three raised beds for the project currently, with hopes to add more in the future along with a greenhouse.

The charity is growing pumpkins, runner beans, cucumbers, tomatoes and sunflowers.

“A lot of the volunteers we have who come in and work with us probably are not going to get a job anywhere else, although some do but mostly they’ve been with us several years,” said trustee Bill Smith.

“They get up and come out and mix with other people and they enjoy the work they do here which I think is really important for them.”

Office manager Lucy Lynch said the volunteers gained various benefits.

“They... get outdoors in the sunshine,” she said, which was a way of boosting wellbeing.

Horticulture expert Esther Kovacs said the scheme was trying to balance the garden area between having space for wildlife and space to grow food.

“It’s important for everybody - not just wildlife and nature but people and mental health and physical [health] and growing food,” she said.

Ms Kovac added: “I have a horticultural degree, but I always feel that I’m learning a lot more when I’m actually doing stuff and I’m learning more from anybody and everybody.

She said the garden had been designed to be climate resilient and good for wildlife.

It has also set to be made accessible for wheelchair users and people with mobility issues.