Residents enhance their communal area with flourishing flowers!
Our residents at Woodlands won a £50 voucher for a gardening competition!
Last year a few members of the team went out to have a look at some of the communal gardens at our Independent Living Schemes and were really impressed with what residents were doing in terms of planting, growing and maintaining flowers and plants in the communal areas.
Our residents at The Woodlands, Independent Living Scheme, were undertaking this using their own time and resources. We wanted to support them by providing some funding for plants and materials as they had done a wonderful job of brightening up the gardens!
The funding has come from our Environmental Improvements Project Fund, which is specifically for enhancing our existing green spaces and communal areas and delivering general environmental improvements.
A few weekends ago, their gardening voucher was used to create Jubilee themed flowerbeds for the long celebratory weekend. Another resident used their artistic skills to paint some stones to compliment the colour scheme around the flowerbeds. Many residents invited their extended family to join in across the weekend. It was very joyful time after a challenging few years. 
There are a number of health and wellbeing benefits to gardening and we’re keen to encourage residents at schemes to come together through horticultural activities. It also provides a more attractive environment to enjoy and sit out in with the warmer months upon us.
At the last count, we’ve provided funding to 13 different communal areas, both at Independent Living Schemes and some communal gardens at our estates, and we’re starting to see the positive outcomes from the planting as we move into Summer! Keep an eye out on our Facebook and Twitter as we follow these projects and share more pictures from the flourishing gardens.