A home care company came to the rescue of their local primary school to transform its ‘jungle-like’ garden.
After Heron Hill’s garden had become completely overgrown, Home Instead South Lakes set out to restore it to its former beauty in partnership with Morrisons Community Champion, Kirsty Ireland.
Teacher at the Kendal primary school, Karen Harper responded to a social media post from Home Instead and Morrisons, who were offering their time to help a local cause. The three corresponded for months, helping to organise a complete garden makeover for the local school.
After suffering two years of neglect due to the pandemic, the upkeep of the green space had become a real challenge for the school. Along with Home Instead and Morrisons, an array of businesses across Kendal offered their support to Heron Hill in the form of volunteers, supplies, materials and expertise.
Scott from Keenan Able Design Build and Maintenance helped coordinate the works that were needed on the paths, estimated building materials and did all the joinery work on the day.
Companies who helped by donating time or materials included Travis Perkins, L&W Wilson in Endmoor, Homebase Kendal, Beetham Nurseries Milnthorpe, B&Q Kendal, Burlington Aggregates, and Jewsons Kendal.
Karen Harper and Chair of Governors, Jacqui Cottam helped the project come along by clearing a lot of the garden beforehand, enabling the volunteers to make huge progress in the day.
The school was delighted to have so many members of the community come together to help restore the garden for the children and local residents.
Rachel Sanders from Home Instead South Lakes said: “At Home Instead our passion to care for those around us extends beyond just our clients. It’s been amazing to work with Heron Hill primary on their restoration project, we know how much this space means to the children, so we wanted to revive the garden to be used as a tool for learning.”
Home Instead, Morrisons, other local businesses and volunteers brought life to the garden by removing all the excess weeds, reinstalling the stone seating areas and restoring the garden’s winding pathways.
One child said: “I can’t believe how good it is. We could put a tepee in here, put chairs around it, sit together and learn all about nature.”
Morrisons Community Champion, Kirsty Ireland said: “It’s initiatives like this that bring our community together. Over the past few years, we have been so divided and haven’t had chance to regularly see our family and friends. So, it’s amazing to see the community out in huge numbers to help Heron Hill primary restore their garden.”
All the children were delighted with the garden’s revival and are very grateful for everyone’s hard work on the project.
Headmistress of Heron Hill primary, Trish Merritt added: “We are overwhelmed by the support we have received from everyone in the local area. The garden means so much to the children and we have wanted to restore it for a while now. We’ve had so many people throughout the community give their time and efforts towards the project and we can’t thank everyone enough for all their contributions.”
