Eden Rural Foyer in Penrith to benefit from volunteers helping to renovate garden
Following their successful funding application to Cumbria County Council Youth Opportunity Fund, residents at the Eden Rural Foyer in Penrith are about to see their back yard transformed into the garden of their dreams. Student volunteers from the University of Cumbria are working with professional landscapers, Jennifer Lauruol & Simon Lewis, to transform the yard during National Student Volunteering Week, which runs this week from 22-28 February. This year’s theme is ‘Inspiring Futures and Connecting Communities.’
The Eden Rural Foyer offers housing with support to young people between the ages of 16 to 25. The foyer is an innovative community resource, offering a range of services, such as training and development, a multi-cultural drop in service, health services, a youth cafe, office rental and conferencing facilities.
Jennifer Lauruol, the landscape designer for the project, asked the young people living at the Eden Rural Foyer for their views and ideas of what the new garden should include and incorporated their requests into the design. This ‘ground force’ style project aims to enhance the environment for the benefit of the residents, whilst promoting healthy eating and garden management. The young people will be encouraged to grow fruit and vegetables to be used to create home-grown and home-made dishes to sell in their café. Volunteers from the University of Cumbria will continue to maintain the garden and encourage the residents to get involved too.
The first challenge will be to cut up the tarmac so that 95% of the waste generated can be recycled. The student volunteers will learn about recycling, sustainability and how to implement the design on paper into the finished garden.
Emma Egglestone, the Volunteer Coordinator for the University of Cumbria Students’ Union said:
“This is a fantastic opportunity for our volunteers not only to learn about recycling but also to inspire other young people living in this community”
Sarah Boyle, Eden Foyer Manager, is delighted with the project. She said:
“The young people have worked extremely hard in sourcing the funding for the garden. This is something they have been planning for many months and are looking forward to. A huge thank you to the student volunteers of the University of Cumbria for their continued support and of course to the young people who awarded the foyer the funding from the Youth Opportunity Fund."
For more information please contact Emma Egglestone, UCSU Volunteer Coordinator on 01524 526577