St Luke’s Community Garden receives a ‘Give and Gain’ day makeover
Vale of Glamorgan Council teams in partnership with volunteers from the construction company Morgan Sindall have worked to revamp the St Luke's Community Garden and surrounding area of the Council's Food Pod on a joint 'Give and Gain' day in Penarth.
The upgrade - as part of the Council's Cleaner, Greener, Connected, and Healthier Neighbourhood Clean Slate project - saw volunteers painting fences and replanting the planters, as well as general tidying and maintenance around the Food Pod, with Morgan Sindall also donating plants and materials for the community garden.
The Food Pod opened in March 2021 and operates out of a converted shipping container and offers residents tinned and perishable goods, toiletries and hygiene products.
Mark Ellis, Community Investment and Involvement Officer, said: “The team have worked really hard on the Food Pod and Community Garden project, assisted by colleagues from Housing Management.
"In addition, a group of volunteers have been running the Food Pod for four years and have overseen a big increase in people using the Food Pod over the last 12 months despite having to reduce the service to once a week."
Maddy Thomas, Social Value Advisor from Morgan Sindall commented: “By supporting and partaking in local community initiatives, we ensure that our projects are benefitting the communities they serve directly, like the community garden at Penarth Food Pod.
"It was a pleasure working alongside Mark, members of the local community and our supply chain partners on the ‘Give and Gain’ day!”
Morgan Sindall have worked with the Vale of Glamorgan Council on a number of key projects across the county, including the delivery of the second Ysgol y Deri site at Cosmeston - Ysgol Llyn Derw.
The project at St Luke’s Community Garden and Food Pod is another great example of the community benefits delivered by contractors working on Council schemes.