Allotment success just grows and grows
Warwickshire County Council’s Youth Offending team is showing off the fruits – or veg – of its labour from an organic garden, set up to help young people on court orders payback the community.
A plentiful supply of white carrots, potatoes, herbs and black tomatoes are among the items grown in the Rugby-based allotment throughout the year, which are then donated to a local day care centre run by Age Concern.
The rest of the produce is used to educate young people and parents about nutritional cooking, while promoting a sustainable environment.
It is one of a range of reparation projects offered by the Youth Offending Service to help the young person make up for the crime they have committed, if the victim doesn’t want to meet them for a direct apology or if the crime is against the community as a whole.
Heather Shilling, Operations Manager (Interventions) for Warwickshire’s Youth Offending Service, said: “We are incredibly proud of our allotment project which has been going from strength to strength every year.
“Everyone has worked very hard to make this project successful – not only does it give young people a chance to turn their life around by giving something back to the community but also provides them with new skills such as conservation, woodwork and gardening that they can put to good use later in life.
“Our allotment has received a lot of praise from people in the town over the last few years, even winning an award for the best allotment in Rugby in 2007. We’re hoping to repeat that success this year.”
The project could be rolled out to other areas across the county in the future with the introduction of growing and cooking foods from a variety of cultures.
To find out more about the Warwickshire Youth Offending Service, visit http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/yot.