Older people strike oil with garden makeover
Older people from a Warwickshire County Council care home have struck oil with help from Jet employees and the Prince’s Trust in a Groundforce style garden makeover.
The county council’s volunteering scheme brought together young people from the Prince’s Trust and staff from Warwick based Jet to revamp and restore a garden for residents at The Lawns Care Home in Whitnash.
Work was undertaken by Jet employees’ as part of their ‘Fuelling the Local Community’ initiative. The Jet team spent a day repairing and painting the picket fence that surrounds the building and clearing up outside spaces for the residents to enjoy.
Jet’s marketing manager, Tony Conway, said:
“Across the UK, our Jet forecourts operate at the heart of the community. The ‘Fuelling the Local Community’ day allows us to take one step further, helping organisations like The Lawns which support the community.”
Students from Warwickshire College joined together as part of their Prince’s Trust personal development course, to put in an additional day’s work to clean and paint the garden furniture.
Claire Smith from the Prince’s Trust said: “Projects like this are a great motivation for the students and a marvellous way of bringing the community together. They had a fun day and enjoyed getting to know some of the residents.”
Irene Barr, aged 88 who has been a resident at The Lawns for 8 months said: “I think it looks very nice. People are more likely to come outside even though the weather hasn’t been very good this summer!”
Paul Gaskell, Manager of The Lawns for Warwickshire County Council, said: “We really appreciate all the hard work by everyone involved. It is a marvellous opportunity for different parts of the community to get together for projects such as this. Residents enjoyed the experience, the results are outstanding and everyone benefits.”