Green scheme takes root

Pupils from Littlecoates Primary Academy joined Grimsby Garden Centre staff for a tree-mendous afternoon of green-fingered educational fun.

Branching out with the creation of a new school orchard, pupils visited the popular centre to select pear-fectly a-peel-ing fruit trees including a range of Lincolnshire speciality growers and got hands on advice about planting, care and harvesting.

Earlier in the year, garden centre staff visited the West Marsh school to launch their Grow With Us schools gardening scheme which boosts and encourages green-fingered activity by sending free seasonal gardening sets to all primary schools across North East Lincolnshire.

Grimsby Garden Centre manager Craig Champion said: “We believe green-fingered activity is important for physical and mental health and wellbeing and we think young people should have the opportunity to grow vegetables, fruit and flowers.”

It’s something Littlecoates Academy have taken to heart, expanding their garden haven to include vegetable boxes, sunflower beds and now an orchard.

Grimsby Garden Centre know more than most the positive benefits of gardening on both mental and physical health.

The centre is owned by NAViGO – provider of NHS mental health services across North East Lincolnshire.

NAViGO get people from disadvantaged backgrounds and individuals with mental health difficulties back into work by offering them skills, training and employment opportunities.

But Grimsby Garden Centre is also a not-for-profit organisation which means that any profit made by the centre goes back into its upkeep and straight into NAViGO, to be used to improve mental health services across North East Lincolnshire.

The autumn Grow With Us gardening pack is making its way to schools this month encouraging the new generation of gardeners across the borough.