Green-fingered school project backed by Selco

A Birmingham primary school is embracing the great outdoors by encouraging its pupils to grow their own fruit and vegetables – with the help of our Perry Barr branch.

Kingsland Primary School, based in Kingstanding, has created its own garden area for the children to enjoy all the benefits of being self-sufficient.

We donated all the materials for 11 gardening troughs, while our team at Perry Barr also built the structures so the children could utilise them straight away.

Nathan Allsopp, deputy headteacher of the school which has around 350 pupils, said: “We have developed an Eco Plan over the last year and at the heart of that is sustainability.

“We want children to understand that food isn’t just something you buy from a supermarket and giving them the chance to grow their own fruit and vegetables is a fantastic way of doing that.

“There will also be some of our pupils who don’t have a garden at home so having this facility provides another important life experience for them.

“We have already started growing carrots, potatoes, strawberries and a range of herbs, including mint, lavender and fennel.

“The children are getting a real excitement from their time in the garden and we are hugely grateful to Selco for their support.

“Without their materials – and the team physically constructing the gardening troughs – there is no way we could have made this whole project work.”

Amongst the materials we supplied were timber, decking boards, fence posts and compost.

Malcolm Greenslade, branch manager of Selco Perry Barr based on Walsall Road, said: “Sustainability is a key focus for us at Selco so the plans Kingsland Primary School have put in place really resonated with us.

“We were delighted to help with both materials and manpower in terms of putting the gardening troughs together and it was fantastic to visit the school and see how much joy the children were getting from the garden area.”