Kendal businesses rescue Heron Hill Primary School's garden

Home care company, Home Instead South Lakes, set out to restore Heron Hill Primary School’s garden in partnership with Morrisons Community Champion, Kirsty Ireland, after it had become completely overgrown.

After suffering two years of neglect due to the pandemic, the upkeep of the green space had become a real challenge for the school.

Teacher Karen Harper responded to a social media post from the two companies, who were offering their time to help and the three corresponded for months to organise the complete garden makeover.

Along with Home Instead and Morrisons and school staff an array of businesses across Kendal offered their support to Heron Hill in the form of volunteers, supplies, materials and expertise.

They brought life to the garden by removing all the excess weeds, reinstalling the stone seating areas and restoring the garden’s winding pathways.

Scott from Keenan Able Design Build and Maintenance helped coordinate the works that needed doing to the paths, estimated building materials and did all the joinery work on the day.

Companies who helped by donating time or materials included Travis Perkins, L&W Wilson in Endmoor, Homebase Kendal, Beetham Nurseries in Milnthorpe, B&Q Kendal, Burlington Aggregates, and Jewsons Kendal.

All the children were delighted with the garden’s revival and said they were very grateful for everyone’s hard work on the project.

One child said: “I can’t believe how good it is. We could put a tepee in here, put chairs around it, sit together and learn all about nature.”

Headmistress of Heron Hill Primary, Trish Merritt said: “We are overwhelmed by the support we have received from everyone in the local area.

“The garden means so much to the children and we have wanted to restore it for a while now.

“We’ve had so many people throughout the community give their time and efforts towards the project and we can’t thank everyone enough for all their contributions.”

Rachel Sanders from Home Instead South Lakes said: “At Home Instead our passion to care for those around us extends beyond just our clients. It’s been amazing to work with Heron Hill Primary on their restoration project, we know how much this space means to the children, so we wanted to revive the garden to be used as a tool for learning.”

Morrisons Community Champion, Kirsty Ireland said: “It’s initiatives like this that bring our community together. Over the past few years, we have been so divided and haven’t had chance to regularly see our family and friends. So, it’s amazing to see the community out in huge numbers to help Heron Hill Primary restore their garden."