Riverside - Fruit, veg and eggs at new garden

26 March 2010

This week, Riverside Midlands officially opened the gates at Beaumanor Unity Garden on Drummond Road, Leicester. To celebrate, Riverside held an Easter egg hunt for school children from Belgrave St Peters Church of England School and Wolsey House Primary School. Local residents also came along to have a look round and take part in the celebrations. The project was part of the Green Spaces for People programme funded by the Big Lottery Fund - a partnership between Riverside, Places for People and Peabody that will see the transformation of 75 neighbourhoods across England.

Riverside was awarded £81,462 for this project, and matched this with £31,000 of its own cash to convert the land on Drummond Road. Chris Flynn, Divisional Director at Riverside said: “This project demonstrates what is at the heart of Riverside’s vision to revitalise neighbourhoods and help transform lives. The area has been transformed from a derelict garage space into an environmentally friendly and attractive landscaped area for the local community to use. “As well as grass areas, wormery, plants, shrubs and flowers, local residents will have the opportunity to grow their own fruit and vegetables, to hold events and also help us to maintain the garden.” Jacquie Sykes, Teaching Assistant at Belgrave St Peters School said: “The children have really enjoyed today and we want to thank Riverside for allowing us to be part of this project, as the children benefit working closely with community.” Barry Nicholls and Alex Pringle of Architectural & Surveying Services Ltd organised a garden competition with St Peters School pupils and members of the local community last summer. The competition was to design the perfect garden for the local community – winners can now see the fruits of their labour. Local social enterprise Stride (Sharp Training, Recycling & Income Development Enterprise) has been working to complete the new garden in time for the summer, employing local young people as part of an Enter to Employment learning programme.