Knutsford MOW! Thanks to Peaks & Plains grant
Knutsford GROW’s gardening volunteers are looking forward to using a brand new mower, thanks to a grant from Peaks & Plains Housing Trust.
Knutsford GROW’s volunteers provide garden maintenance for over 30 older and disabled people in Knutsford and the weather in 2012 was tough on lawns (and lawn mowers!) The grant from Peaks & Plains is to be spent on replacing, maintaining or repairing tools and by popular demand a new lawn mower came top of the volunteer’s wish list. Despite annual servicing, the existing mowers are old and have been out of action more and more often during the past year. Additionally, the older mowers are too heavy for some of GROW’s volunteers with disablities to use.
Kate Lawson, project coordinator for Knutsford GROW says “Mowing is probably the most popular job with GROW’s gardening volunteers; I think they get a real sense of achievement from making a lawn look tidy. The new machine is light and easy to start and so far, all our volunteers have been able to use it to mow lawns”. Students from Petty Pool College who gain work experience by volunteering with GROW, are looking forward to using the new mower. The students also learn basic machine maintenance. GROW’s volunteers not only mow the lawn to keep the garden looking tidy but tackle weeds and prune shrubs and hedges so that they don’t grow too large.
Kate says “People need help with their gardens for various reasons; full time carers might not get the opportunity to get in the garden, occasionally people become socially isolated and find that their garden gets out of control. Many people tell us that they find they can no longer manage the mowing and weeding but still want their garden to look tidy. GROW’s volunteers can help with these tasks, leaving people free to enjoy their gardens once more. The people we garden for often like to chat to the volunteers and usually have some great stories to tell. The volunteers are also meeting people from different backgrounds as well as learning new skills.”
Anyone wanting help with their garden or wanting to volunteer with the charity can email knutsford.grow@live.co.uk or contact GROW’s Project Coordinators on 07906 097 339 or 07763 009 412.
Pete Pealing, Community Partnerships Manager at Peaks & Plains, visited the Knutsford GROW team in a garden on Longridge to see the new mower in action. Pictured, left to right are volunteers Shane Bellis, Matty Ryan and Jonathan Daly, Pete Pealing (Community Partnerships Manager at Peaks & Plains Housing Trust) and Kate Lawson (Project Coordinator, Knutsford GROW).
This wonderful article was written and submitted by Kate Lawson
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