A new garden at Young Risers pre school nursery in Istead Rise was unveiled on Thursday 29 April by John and Sue Caller, Mayor and Mayoress of Gravesham.
As the Mayor cut the red ribbon at the official opening he said: “It is an absolute pleasure to open the Young Risers new garden. It shows what can be achieved when the community work together. Congratulations to everyone who made this happen. The beaming smiles of the children say it all”.
The garden replaces the old one after 25 years, and will offer a whole new environment for the children. It has extended the whole space by around 1 metre, and a new fence offers a far more secure area for the children.
The garden now provides bedding areas where sunflowers, fuschias and strawberries have already been planted, and a herb and vegetable plot awaits planting by the children. A pirate sand pit and mud kitchen will offer much fun activity for the youngsters whilst they are learning and developing new skills and interaction with each other.
Pre School Manager, Coral Bain’s theme of “growing and nurturing” is exactly how she sees the new garden being used. She says: “The garden will provide additional hands-on learning activities for the children, and the opportunity to be outdoors will contribute significantly to the well being of both staff and children”. In particular Coral feels the new garden is a welcome “boost to staff” after all the difficulties they have faced during the lockdown.
Upon hearing of the schools intention to revamp their garden, ircatoday.com was delighted to help through our continued partnerships with local business and facilitate the project. Much gratitude must go, in particular to Gareth Nimmo of GNB Building Services Ltd and Billy Goodwin of Goodbridge Heating Ltd who gave up their free time and expertise for the actual construction, not forgetting local resident Andrew Meek and son Stanley along with Duke of Edinburgh volunteers. A community grant was provided by the Co-op, and construction materials were provided at cost price by Discount Builders.
Coral Bain is thrilled with the result and extremely grateful for all the hard work put in by so many. “The garden has been transformed into something special”, she says. “I absolutely love it, and I know this is going to make such a difference to the children and staff. I cannot thank you enough”.
Local councillor, Dakota Dibben, agrees. He says: “This really does show how local businesses can come together to support such worthwhile community projects for local charities and good causes”.
Look out for the launch of our main site coming very soon! where there will be many opportunities for local businesses to advertise. For more information contact info@ircatoday.com
