A military veterans charity has thanked volunteers for helping out at a ‘big build’ day at a Worcester community garden.
Stepway, which supports veterans making the transition into civilian life, runs a community garden project at the Old North Stables on Pitchcroft and has plans to make the space fully accessible to all, including for wheelchair users.
After receiving an offer of materials from builders merchant Keyline, the charity put out a call to volunteers to come and help last weekend - and said they had a great response.
Tina Dales, operations director at Stepway, said: “Philip Mills, a veteran who works for Keyline in Worcester, had heard of Stepway and our community garden project.
“He had a conversation with Kirsty Bleasby, the project lead and then his employers at Keyline, who were kind enough to support us by donating some much-needed materials.
“Not only that but they delivered them as well.
“With these materials we hope to fulfil our plan of making the garden fully accessible to all, including those with wheelchairs.
“We were really lucky the sun was out and a great time was had by all.
“Everyone at Stepway wants to send huge thanks to all who attended, our amazing volunteers, veterans from the Armed Forces Breakfast Club, Kirsty Bleasby and Philip Mills.
“Also a special thanks to Keyline’s managing director Dean Pinner, branch manager Oliver Clarke and driver Nathan Foster.”
A host of activities take place at Stepway’s community garden project in Worcester and at another based at the charity’s Wellbeing Centre in Oldbury in the West Midlands.
These include bee keeping, working on allotments and general maintenance of the gardens.
Stepway also runs drop-in sessions, allowing veterans to access support services, find out about the charity’s seven-step Civilian Skills Programme and enjoy a cup of tea with fellow veterans.
Stepway’s Community Garden Project at Pitchcroft, Worcester, is open Mondays and Thursdays between 10am and 2pm, and everyone is welcome.
More information and details of the seven-step civilian skills programme can be found at the charity’s website stepway.org
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