An open day was held today on Wednesday 30th June 2010 at 2:30pm at Llys Eleanor sheltered housing in Shotton to celebrate the newly created garden at the sheltered housing which has been made possible thanks to Groundwork’s Greencare project and Flintshire’s University of the Third Age.
Groundwork’s Greencare 14–19 project has made a real difference to the residents of Llys Eleanor, a sheltered housing complex in Shotton run by Clwyd Alyn Housing.
The Greencare project is run and managed by Groundwork in North Wales and works with disengaged and disadvantaged young people in Flintshire to engage them on practical environmental projects so that they gain new skills and confidence. The project is funded by the Big Lottery and the Countryside Council for Wales.
Flintshire’s University of the Third Age was instrumental in getting Groundwork involved in the project at Llys Eleanor. The project involved pupils from Shotton Learning Centre and Flint High School who worked really hard to create an allotment area with raised beds for flowers and vegetables, and a greenhouse. Creating the area involved volunteers of all ages from the Greencare project, Flintshire’s University of the Third Age and Llys Eleanor. Now, the housing complex has a lovely area that all the residents can enjoy. The flowers can be cut to be displayed in the resident’s apartments and the vegetables grown, used in the restaurant on the site.
At the open day, Dave Heggarty, Head of Regeneration at Flintshire County Council opened the garden and thanked all the volunteers and residents for their hard work and commitment to make the gardens come to life.
Philip Johnson, from Flintshire’s University of the Third Age said,"This project is another element in our organisations community outreach initiative. We are indebted to Groundwork and the young volunteers for bringing the allotment from a patch of bare ground to the stage where we could commence the planting programme. Our objective is to provide the opportunity for the residents to not only pick fresh produce but also to be able to sit and enjoy the colour and scent of flowers on a warm sunny evening."
Chris Fox, Health Programme Manager at Groundwork said,"Groundwork are delighted to have worked on this wonderful project that demonstrated how different generations can work together to produce a garden that all the residents will benefit from."
Dave Heggarty, "The Council wants to create the best environment possible in Shotton and at Llys Eleanor for the benefit of all of the community in the area. It is really good to see the community coming together to create the wonderful new gardens at Llys Eleanor in the way it has done. That this has been done by local young people from Shotton Learning Centre working with the residents is really gratifying. I am also very grateful to the team from Groundwork Wrexham and Flintshire, who made all this possible. Groundwork is an important partner for the County Council, and we are very pleased to have such a valuable organisation to work alongside."
