Member Article

School kids make Ashington site incredible

Pupils from Central First School in Ashington have come together with social housing provider Bernicia and contractor Gentoo Construction to create an ‘Incredible Edible’ living wall as part of a national competition.

Pupils were invited along to the site of the former Ashington hospital on Thursday 21 May to help create the wall making bird feeders, bottle gardens, filling pallets with herbs, lettuce and strawberry seeds and finishing off the day making a bug hotel.

The living wall idea was chosen after the school had benefited from some environmental and plant workshops from Bernicia and Gentoo staff.

The ‘Incredible Edible’ theme was woven into the design as it encompasses the idea of the site leaving a positive legacy in the area, with the school, local community and site staff able to reap the benefits from the walls produce.

John Johnston, Deputy Chief Executive at Bernicia said: “The incredible edible living wall is a great example of the benefit we committed to create through The Cheviots Development and the extent of its positive impact for the area. The pupils have worked fantastically well and the wall looks amazing. We hope the pupils will return to learn some valuable cookery tips from residents on how to turn their home grown produce into tasty, nutritious meals”.

The ‘Ivor Goodsite’ hoardings competition from The Considerate Constructors Scheme, encourages construction sites to engage with local schools and children’s groups to work together and design and decorate its hoardings whilst educating about site safety.

Allan Thompson, Managing Director of Gentoo Construction said: “The day was a great success and it was fantastic to see the children really engaging and enjoying the activities whilst sending out some great messages about healthy living and the importance of recycling and sustainability.

“It’s vital that we are able to engage with younger children in the areas where we work about site safety and using this competition allows us to do that while helping encourage everyone to take an interest in what is being built in their community.”

Pam Warhurst, is the co-founder of the Incredible Edible Project which began in Todmorden, North Yorkshire as a community initiative dedicated to growing food locally. The idea is to take over some unused, unloved land and turn it into communal gardens where food can be grown and shared by all for free.

David Godfrey, Principal of Central First School said: “Central First School is honoured to be involved in this project which will offer our pupils a unique opportunity to be part of an exciting development for their town. It is a wonderful idea that fits perfectly with the Ashington Learning Partnership’s desire to develop creativity within its students, through the arts.”

The site of the former Ashignton hospital is currently under construction to build a 40 sheltered living apartment building with communal living facilities and 26 sheltered living bungalows, complete with road and car parking infrastructure, private gardens and soft landscaping.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jennifer Scullion .