15 Jul 09

The Aspire Defence Capital Works team at Bulford Barracks joined forces with its suppliers to renovate gardens and create a vegetable patch at Buckland Court Care Home on Green Britain Day.

Aspire Defence Capital Works (ADCW) teamed up with five of its suppliers to give Buckland Court care home’s gardens a green makeover.  About 15 volunteers from ADCW and sub-contractors, Raymond Brown, Dean & Dyball, Gavin Jones and ISG Pearce created a vegetable patch and renovated the gardens using recycled materials from the demolition of buildings at Ward Barracks, Bulford, where building and maintaining accommodation for soldiers including new single en-suite rooms, leisure and dining facilities is underway.

The materials were used to build a shed, lay a patio, create paths accessible to wheelchairs, put up bird boxes and baths and generally spruce up the care home’s gardens on Green Britain Day, a national initiative to encourage people to cut their carbon footprint in time for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A number of local businesses heard about the ‘Ground Force’ activity and have pledged to donate garden furniture, gardening tools, bird baths and feeders and flower baskets.

Tania Arnold, Home Manager at Buckland Court, commented, “The work carried out by Aspire Defence will improve access to the garden and the raised flower beds will encourage so much more participation in gardening activities by our residents.

Growing vegetables in the newly established gardens has an added benefit of helping to cut Buckland Court’s carbon emissions while providing any budding Alan Titchmarshs among the residents with an opportunity to develop their green-fingers and have a go at gardening activities which will also provide them with fresh vegetables to eat.  

Green Britain Day is an extremely worthwhile initiative and we are thrilled that Aspire Defence is giving our gardens a green makeover.”  

Russ Couston, Senior Project Manager, Aspire Defence Capital Works said, “We’re delighted to help the residents of Buckland Court Care Home by giving their gardens a green makeover.  As well as the vegetable patch, we’ve installed big planters that are easy to tend to and we hope that these new gardening activities and, quite simply, having a nicer garden in which to relax, will be a source of great pleasure for residents of the home.  

What’s more, residents can enjoy the new gardens satisfied in the knowledge that they benefit the environment and that the new shed and patio were made using recycled materials.”