Architects help to transform a school’s wild-life garden for Give & Gain Day 2010

A team from GSSArchitecture has helped to transform a wild-life garden at Our Lady’s RC Primary School in Occupation Road, Corby. GSS partner Tom Lyons, together with a group of volunteers from the practice, turned up on 9 July to plant the new garden, which is in part of the school’s grounds.

The planting session was GSS’s contribution to the national Give and Gain Day, which was organised by Business in the Community. Over 6,500 employees from 220 companies throughout the UK took part in the scheme, which is the UK’s largest day of action. Employees are mobilized to volunteer their expertise and time during their working day to the benefit of a variety of community groups including schools, clubs and local charities.

GSS are national members of Business in the Community, and take an active part in the organization’s ProHelp scheme, providing pro bono advice and professional support to local voluntary and charitable organizations in Northamptonshire and elsewhere.

“We believe very strongly in putting something back into the community, and we are committed to corporate social responsibility,“ said GSS partner Tom Lyons. “We’ve undertaken numerous projects in support of charities in Northamptonshire and elsewhere, and we were all delighted to come along today to help complete this wonderful new wild-life garden for the young children. It will provide a valuable new resource for their science lessons and will help to extend the classroom into the school grounds and make them a positive part of the 21^st century learning agenda.”

Head Teacher Philip Sell said, “It is good to see the garden taking shape, as we enter the next phase of its development. The planting of trees, hedging and bog garden plants has, literally, made the area come to life!  We are very grateful for the workers from GSS who have given so generously of their time, and on such a hot day. Their labours have helped us enormously.   Now we have to hope for rain to help the plants establish, the seeds to grow and the bog garden to become boggy enough to lure the frogs and newts to take up residence!! This garden will be a tremendous resource for learning for many years to come.”

The garden was originally planned as a result of a design competition among the school’s pupils that was sponsored by GSS and Winvic Construction Ltd.