STUDENTS from a specialist school in Worcester have helped to re-develop the ‘quiet garden’ at a nearby horticultural therapy centre.
Young people from Regency High School have been cultivating the garden at Link Nurseries and unveiled a plaque to commemorate their hard work.
Link Nurseries is based in Powick and is part of college group WCG, which also includes Pershore College, Malvern Hills College and Evesham College.
It is a community-focused centre providing therapeutic and vocational services and activities for people recovering from mental and physical ill-health, along with plant and produce sales.
Regency pupils visited the nursery once a week to work on the quiet garden, planting and growing their own ‘Well Bean Gardening Boxes’, growing vegetables in the Poly Tunnel and bulb planting, as well as cooking.
This is the first year pupils from the school have been going to the nurseries, with eight students attending all aged over 16, they attended with school staff members.
Sam Sheen, from Regency High School, said: “It has been wonderful for our students at Link Nurseries and to see all their hard work pay-off is great.
“Pupils at our school have a wide-range of complex needs, but it has been a real calming environment for them to be in. Everything had been set up for the needs of our students, and to have their efforts recognised with a plaque is a really nice touch.
“We’re hoping to continue bringing our students here for many years to come and we hope that other visitors to the nurseries enjoy the new garden that our pupils have helped to create.”
Phil Woodhead, manager at Link Nurseries, added: “The quiet garden is a place set aside, separate from the rest of the nurseries and the redesign has made it even more of a private space. One of our volunteers, Kev, has been particularly involved in doing this and we are really grateful for all of his hard work.
“It’s used by all visitors to the centre, but is particularly beneficial for those visitors with post-traumatic stress disorder, due to its calming nature.
Visit www.wcg.ac.uk/linknurseries or call 01905 831 881 or e-mail at [email protected] for more.
