Bedford housebuilder does good seed for the day by helping schoolchildren grow their own

Bedford neighbours may have found they’re getting a little more peas and quiet recently after pupils from St Mary’s Church of England Academy have been busy growing their own produce thanks to a local housebuilder.

Redrow South Midlands, which is currently building at Lucas Gardens on Ivel Road, is celebrating Good to Grow Day, by calling on the help of Shefford's youngsters. To help make the town a more sustainable place to live, the housebuilder tasked pupils from St Mary’s Church of England Academy to grow their own vegetables after donating gardening equipment.

To ensure the children have just the thicket to create their vegetable patches, Redrow South Midlands donated gardening gloves, soil, vegetable seeds, and a garden trug for their produce to grow in.

With their brand-new equipment delivered, pupils from St Mary’s Church of England Academy spent no time mossing around, and quickly got to work setting up a new ‘gardening club’ for green-fingered pupils.

Sam Bishop, Headteacher at St Mary’s CE Academy: “We are very grateful for Redrow South Midlands' generous donation of gardening equipment. Our Eco Council loved planting the seeds and are busy tending to them each day. They can't wait to sample their home-grown vegetables in a few months’ time!”

Andrew Newman, Head of Sales at Redrow South Midlands, said: “Here at Redrow South Midlands we’re always looking for new ways to encourage thriving communities – not just at the developments we build, but in our local communities too.

“Good to Grow Day offered the perfect opportunity to reach out to local primary schools and task them with the challenge of growing their own vegetables. We all remember marvelling at seeing something grow for the first time when we were children, and so we wanted to build on this curiosity by nurturing a passion for growing produce among Stotfold youngsters.

“We look forward to seeing St Mary’s Church of England Academy’s new vegetable patch and their team of mini gardeners putting our donation to good use. We’re sure the vegetables will look absolutely radishing in a few weeks’ time and look forward to returning to the school for an all-important taste test.”