A GROUP of school leavers banded together to ensure a special garden in Evenwood continues to look its best.
The youngsters, who are all taking part in the National Citizen Service scheme (NCS), chose the sensory garden, at Evenwood’s Cornerstone Christian Centre, as the project they would like to help.
They spent two days carrying out various activities, from painting fences to creating a bug hotel and rainwater recycling system to ensure plants can be watered.
The sensory garden has been open for just a year and was the brainchild of church member and Evenwood resident Ernie Malt, who lives with vascular dementia.
Alice Lawson, 16, from Newbiggin, was among those taking part, and explained it was the culmination of a month-long series of activities with NCS.
“We did not know each other before we came. It is quite a mixed group – all centred on Bishop Auckland for this NCS project,” she said.
The group spent a week team building at Ford Castle, near Berwick, in Northumberland, before a few days staying in the halls of residence at Sunderland University.
They then spent a week at Bishop Auckland College working out and planning what they would do as a group project.
“We all wanted to do something physical and we wanted to do something around a sensory garden. We contacted Ernie and came here,” said Alice.
Fundraising and donations totalling £600 helped provide all the materials needed for their weekend’s work.
The group has also made posters urging people to come along to the garden every second Wednesday to help keep it up to scratch.
“There are about 30 to 40 people who visit the garden a week at the moment and we want to try to increase that to 70 by September and hopefully get the local community involved in maintaining it,” added Alice.
“Ernie spends a lot of time doing it and he could do with a bit of help. We want to create a self-sustaining garden.”
Mr Malt described the youngsters’ efforts as “amazing” .
He added: “It nearly brought me to tears. When I got the phone call, I thought it was a hoax.
“When I met them, they had a table full of plans and the scary thing was they were all the things I was thinking about. The garden has been open a year and people have been along to enjoy it. I am hoping to start summer workshops – we have a lady coming in to talk about bees and honey.”
National Citizen Service is a UK-wide scheme for those aged 15 to 17 to help prepare them for the future and get them involved in the community.
The teenagers who took part in the Evenwood scheme hailed mainly from Teesdale and south west Durham.
Alice said: “All of us are in the summer of year 11. We have got a really long summer holiday – 11 weeks.
“This [NCS] makes us do something useful with out time. It is good to get out and meet new people in the area. I would have just been sat at home.”
