Building beds in Blaenau

Green-fingered children at a school in Blaenau, Gwent are looking forward to growing their own plants and vegetables with help from housebuilder Redrow.

The award winning developer is one of several companies to donate bricks to Ystruth Primary School in East Pentwyn, which will be used to build elevated beds for the children to plant their own vegetables and flowers, record their growth and taste the fruits of their labour when it’s time to harvest – and you can’t get more organic than that.

Redrow’s donation comes after the children held their own ‘bring a brick’ day to get supplies and other local companies also pitched in.

Brian Winstanley, a teacher at Ystruth Primary School, said: “We are hoping to complete the project over the summer holidays so it’s all ready to go when the children return.

“The school will benefit greatly from the kind donations – we have to build raised beds because the school is built on reclaimed mining land, and this will not only perk things up a bit, but hopefully the children will learn something interesting, fun and useful too.

“We will also be building a play area with sand pits for the children to enjoy. At the moment the area is a patch of waste ground – it will be a great transformation that the kids will love.”

Debby Pavitt, area sales manager for Redrow Homes (South Wales), said: “We are delighted to be able to help Ystruth Primary School – the bricks will be used for a very worthwhile cause. Our extra-special safety mascot, Buster the Bear, went along to the school to help deliver the bricks and, hopefully, found time to impart a little of his valuable advice about the potential dangers of playing on building sites.

“As well as positively developing residential areas in towns, Redrow also likes to give back to the local community in other ways and providing the bricks to help build the garden beds is a great example. We’re now looking forward to sampling some of the locally grown produce!”

Redrow is currently putting its own bricks to good use at the Cae Ffwrnais development in nearby Ebbw Vale, part of an ongoing regeneration project in the town. The development consists of a choice of one and two-bedroom apartments and two, three and four-bedroom homes, providing homes for a wide range of home-buyers – from first-time buyers and downsizers to growing families, with current prices from £129,995.

For details of new homes at Cae Ffwrnais, log on to Redrow.co.uk/developments/view/128.

For general information about Redrow Homes - including its support for community initiatives - go online at Redrow.co.uk.