Schools set for 200 new gardens

Around 200 schools across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire could have new gardens over the next five years as part of a project to help educate youngsters in the art of horticulture.

The Simply Gardening for Schools social enterprise aims to eventually provide every school in the area with a garden to give pupils the chance to learn valuable greenhouse and gardening skills.

The project is the brainchild of Bottesford gardener John Cavill, who explained to the Scunthorpe Telegraph that he believes children can gain a lot from gardening.

"After doing a quiet area at Bowmandale School in Barton-upon-Humber in 2006, I realised we could make a massive difference to the lives of children with gardening," he told the paper.

"In October last year, we set up Simply Gardening for Schools and registered it as a social enterprise."

The Pocklington Post recently reported that pupils as young as four at Sutton-on-Derwent primary school have helped to build a willow dome and a series of willow tunnels in their schools garden.