Trainees add magic touch to Hope House garden

10^th August 2016

A new fairy garden has been unveiled at Hope House children’s hospice in Oswestry following an ambitious makeover project.

 

The garden, which offers a quiet and peaceful area for families at the hospice to relax in, was given a magical transformation in just four days by a team of graduates from house builder Redrow.

 

The team of 14 green fingered graduates volunteered their time and asked for support from Redrow’s suppliers to give the fairy garden a sprinkling of fairy dust. Improvements include a new fence, paving, benches, fresh planting, bird and bat boxes, bug hotels, toadstools and fairy houses.

 

Redrow graduate trainee Alex Shine said: “Hope House is our North West division’s nominated charity so we wanted to do something that would have a lasting impact and benefit the children and their families who stay at the hospice.

 

“The fairy garden was in real need of a revamp and so we worked hard as a team over four days to firstly prepare the area - which involved plenty of digging - and then set about restoring it into a magical garden for all the children to enjoy.

 

“It’s fair to say that none of us expected how much hard work would be involved in the project. Equally though, none of us realised how rewarding the experience would be either. When it came to the big reveal to the families and staff at the hospice, their amazed reactions exceeded all of our expectations.”

 

Hope House Children's Hospices - Hope House in Oswestry and Ty Gobaith in Conwy - provide specialist nursing care in addition to practical and emotional support to terminally ill and life limited children and young people. The charity must raise over £4 million every year to maintain this care. Last year, Redrow’s staff raised £57,000 for the hospice.

 

Simi Epstein, director of fundraising and marketing at Hope House, said: “When Redrow offered to help us with the fairy garden we never imagined they would produce something so spectacular for the children.

 

“The children love the garden and have spent a lot of time hunting for insects in the insect hotel and peeking in the hedgehog houses to see if we have any visitors! The new fencing has made the area safe, secure and private which has enabled the children to enjoy it even more.

 

“Without companies like Redrow and their fantastic graduates we would not have been able to do the work and for that we are truly grateful.”

 

Redrow’s graduate project promotes team work, problem solving and working under pressure - all essential qualities for a career in construction. The participants are all currently on two year programmes, gaining valuable skills and experience with Redrow.

 

The graduates that took part in the project were: Joshua Cinna, Amanda Hollins, Sam Davies, Alex Shine, Catherine Gower, Claire Holt, Anthony Iren, Noah Overton, Emily Smith, Rebecca Smith, Michael Stuttaford, Nora Waldendorf, Keiran Wood and Megan Woodburn.

 

Redrow is extremely grateful to the many suppliers who offered their time, labour, materials and expertise completely free of charge. Thank you to: HSS, Lex Autolease, Reconomy, Hobbycraft, WBP Visual Solutions, Frontline Image Ltd, WAP Lawton & Sons Ltd, Trevor Bridge Associates Ltd, AM Norris Ltd, Paul Sellick Brickwork Ltd, Town and Country Vibro, B&Q, Brandwells Construction Co Ltd, Sign-Build, AkzoNobel, TCL Group, Speedy, Landstruction, P&A Group, Forest Hill Landscaping, Tate Contracts Ltd, S&E Painting Contractors Ltd, JB Cleaning Services, Bob Joyce Joinery, M.B Heating Ltd and Jack Moody Group.

 

For further details about Hope Hospice, visit www.hopehouse.org.uk.

For more information about career and graduate training opportunities with Redrow go to https://www.redrowplc.co.uk/careers/working-at-redrow/