Scott Bros provided a grab lorry free of charge to support Teesside Family Foundation’s project to create community allotment plots to be used by pupils at Middlesbrough’s Discovery Special Academy.
The charity, which has enlisted the help of several local businesses involved in the construction industry, has succeeded in levelling the overgrown site, generating a large amount of soil and green waste.
Scott Bros collected and returned the waste to its facility where the soil has been screened and recycled and will eventually be returned for use in the raised beds, while the green waste will be converted into high grade compost.
The Foundation, which is committed to supporting local people and good causes across Teesside, can now begin the next phase of the project on the former Nature’s World site, which includes creating four raised wooden beds, surrounded by wheelchair accessible pathways.
The area will also feature a greenhouse, seating, storage facilities, water butts, secure fencing and parking area.
Once completed, the allotments will benefit up to 40 children a day from the Academy, which caters for pupils with severe learning difficulties aged four to 11 from the Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland council areas.
So far, half of the £10,000 cost of the project has been saved by local businesses, including Scott Bros, donating their time and equipment.
Tony Wedlake, a trustee of the Teesside Family Foundation, said: “An awful lot of work has already been carried out to transform the site, which previously resembled a jungle.
“Scott Bros kindly offered to support us by removing and recycling the soil and green waste, which saved a great deal of time and expense.
“Once completed, this will be a fantastic facility where pupils can come to learn, work together, and develop a whole range of skills.”
Peter Scott, a director of Stockton-based Scott Bros, said: “We are delighted to support a project that not only brings an area of land back into productive use, but is being used to introduce the Academy’s pupils to the joys and benefits of gardening, a pastime that will enhance the quality of their lives.”
The project is being carried as part of a partnership between Discovery Special Academy, Teesside Family Foundation, supported by Friends of Nature’s World.