Green-fingered children showcase their skills in housebuilder’s gardening competition
01 Jul 2021
Green-fingered children at two Cambridgeshire nurseries are celebrating after winning a gardening competition run by Vistry East Midlands. To mark National Growing for Wellbeing Week, the Peterborough-based housebuilder invited pre-schools close to its developments in Brampton and Witchford to submit photos showcasing their gardening projects. The winning nursery in each location received a £50 voucher to spend at their local garden centre courtesy of the developer ?" part of the Vistry Group which comprises Bovis Homes, Linden Homes and Vistry Partnerships. The Brampton Day Nursery took the prize for Linden Homes’ Brampton Park site with its herb and fruit garden and mud kitchen, while Witchford Rackham Pre-School submitted the winning entry for Bovis Homes’ Pemberton Park development with its garden area featuring pumpkins, beetroot, lavender and a whole host of other produce. Alison Caudwell, nursery manager of The Brampton Day Nursery, said: “Gardening is an important and thoroughly enjoyed activity at our nursery, so we are delighted to have won this competition. The children love getting involved and watching all of our different herbs, fruits and vegetables grow. “We also have a new greenhouse being delivered at the end of June, so winning this £50 voucher will enable us to purchase seeds, plug plants and tools to get us started on it. This will encourage the children to get outdoors, which couldn’t have come at a better time given the circumstances of the last year.” Carole Tuck, manager of Witchford Rackham Pre-School, said: “We have a strong belief in promoting the outdoors and the natural world to our children. There’s no better way to introduce healthy eating, knowledge of growth and the benefits of the outdoors than to grow our own plants and vegetables. “As a small, charity-run village pre-school, funds are tight ?" particularly after a difficult year with lots of restrictions on what our children can access ?" so this funding to support our garden area will benefit our children considerably and give them experiences they don’t always get at home. “We will be spending the voucher on a host of new gardening materials, including soil for our plants and for the children to play with, as well as bark for our willow dome and seeds to grow more vegetables.” Nic Chapman, sales and marketing director for Vistry East Midlands, said: “We are delighted that the children enjoyed our competition encouraging them to get more involved with gardening, which has proven physical and mental health benefits. “We hope the vouchers will enable even more children to experience the joy of gardening and we look forward to seeing more of their horticultural creations in the future.” National Growing for Wellbeing Week, which took place from Monday 7 to Sunday 13 June, is celebrated annually and was set up by social enterprise Life at No.27 to promote gardening as a way of improving both physical and mental health. To mark the week, residents at Brampton Park and Pemberton Park were also invited to send in images of their gardens, with Vistry East Midlands awarding £50 garden centre vouchers for the best entries. For more information about the new homes being built by Vistry East Midlands, visit bovishomes.co.uk and lindenhomes.co.uk/eastmidlands.
