Students from the Newcastle Phoenix Project have transformed a plot of waste land at Newcastle West Community Fire Station into a vegetable garden - thanks to funding from the Denton Ward Committee in Newcastle.
The Phoenix instructors along with the students have been working hard since February transforming the dead space into a productive organic allotment where they will grow vegetables to donate to the Older Peoples' Club in West Denton.
The Phoenix Project in Newcastle is a partnership between Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service and Safe Newcastle. The scheme works with young people who are known to be offending and those at risk of offending between the ages of 11 and 17. It aims to improve the life chances of every young person it works with by introducing them to life skills.
The students have used the funding to invest in raised beds, a greenhouse, seeds, tools, compost and bird boxes to attract wildlife to the garden. Healthy eating awareness has been integrated into the project timetable with the aim of increasing the participants awareness of environmental issues, instilling a sense of team work and ownership amongst the group.
Crew Manager Gary Scorer, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, said: "I would like to thank the Denton Ward Committee for supporting this pilot garden scheme. It is giving students on the Phoenix course key development skills which is helping them to integrate with our local communities by giving fresh fruit and vegetables to our residents who attend West Denton's Older Peoples' Club."
Councillor Graham Middleton said: "Denton Councillors and the residents who sit on the Denton Ward Committee were more than happy to support this funding to contribute towards the fantastic work the Phoenix Project does in Newcastle. This work fits in well with the Council's Allotment/Grow Your Own Food Strategy and we hope to expand this great work in other areas of the Ward. We welcome any help or expertise from the local community and we are looking forward to making our own compost in the near future."
Back L-R - Shannon Beck,Charlotte Baird and Sarah Slater-Bontoft, students on the Phoenix Project. Middle L-R - Councillor Graham Middleton and Crew Manager Gary Scorer, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service .
Front L-R - West Denton residents Lilly Dryden and Margaret O'Callaghan OBE.
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