Volunteers from our site team at The Cocoa Works and their partners worked alongside enthusiastic schoolchildren last month to renovate St George’s Garden of Remembrance in central York.
St George’s RC Primary School & Nursery, a school for children aged 3-11, is located near The Cocoa Works project, which is seeing the historic Rowntree Factory transformed into 279 characterful apartments.
The school’s Garden of Remembrance had become wildly overgrown, with overhanging branches making the garden unsuitable for the children to use.
We provided all the required tools and equipment needed to help revitalise the once cherished green space, and ensured that all the volunteers, including children and teachers, looked the part and could work in a safe way. We also provided compost, bark, a well-deserved lunch for everyone, and a range of beautiful new plants to decorate the reclaimed space.
We were delighted to be joined on the day by volunteers from Framedeck, IHE Demolition, Benchmark and Clarion Housing Group. The volunteers, armed with the tools and a jet wash from Banner Plant, spent a fulfilling day cutting back shrubbery and stray tree limbs.
The team have completely transformed the Garden of Remembrance and it is now well used at lunchtimes by the children. It’s made a huge difference and the children love having a quiet place to just sit and think. It was a brilliant day and we can’t thank the team and volunteers enough.
Dee Statham, Headteacher, St George's RC Primary School & NurseryWe’re hugely committed to giving back to the communities in which we operate, and this local school project was a really rewarding one for our volunteers. Green space is really important in big cities and every child should have access to an attractive and welcoming quiet space where they can reflect and relax during their day.
Andy Greaves, Senior Project ManagerSteven Graham, Community Liaison Manager at Clarion Housing Group from Clarion, added: ”We really enjoyed getting stuck in alongside Henry Boot Construction, supply chain volunteers and everyone from the school to make this project happen. We’re glad to have been able to help out in the local community and it’s great to see how much of a difference this has made to the school already.”
Located close to the city centre on Haxby Road, the redevelopment of the iconic 1980s Rowntree Factory is being delivered for Latimer by Clarion Housing Group. It is due to complete towards the end of 2023.
