News Spa sterpla It ha s been gra rts a
funds. The pla
include buildingala site,a sa
ve lea re ha
downsmail.co.uk dework fora£1 .5mdrea
GARDENCentre cha its “ma
nted pla rity Spa
mission for the works without the need to even go to Tonbridgea Malling Borough Council’s pla ning committee, but now the ha work sta s it looks to raise the
ns for the site in Offha rger ca
m fé on the
a mess roomfor the traineeswho come to the fa the site all ha cal disa thema
bilities, but fa rd to come by.
New chairma n SueMurra re cra
office spa nd the shop we ha teresting challenges a d, but it’s all to pla
“At the moment, we ha shower room, nomedical rooma no quiet rooms.Wea ce a
is too small. “We ha
sion a ds a twe ca ve the pla nda
hea round finding funding so Ha tha
nd now we ha n bring Spa
dework up to 2 1 st century sta rds.
mped for ve
nning permis- ve to get our
our drea
ve to find £1 .5m to ma ms areality. There a hea
stuff.” MrsMurra rveya
ity, a
y for – a y ha
taining the flow. s repla na r-
nd then using the current one cility. The traineesa
t
rning or physi- cilities for
y said: ve no nd
Trainees with visiting dignitaries at the annualmeeting “We ha
ke
nd it’s exciting cedGeorge
re in- main aim a taina
ing is alwa cha
rity, a find tha
s the chairma t the cha ha nd her big focus is on main-
“Aside from the ma s chairma
sterpla n, my n is to main-
n even keel,” she said. “Fund- ys aproblem a nd in alot of ca t people a
ect, but the da costs ca
ppy to dona n be ha
te to aspecific proj- y-to-da
rder to fund. Chairma id a irma fter 3 1 yea Mr Ha Garden co-ordinator Adrian Rivers with some of the crops ‘Trainees get somuch joy’
AT THE heart of Spadework iswhere the literal spadework is done. There is just over an acre of the land dedicated to the vegetable garden,
where 4 8 trainees eachweek spendtheir timedigging, sowing,nurturingand pickingmore than 2 0 0 varieties of fruit and vegetables. The challenge for that patch is to bring inmore than £1 0 ,0 0 0 a year, and
that is overseen by vegetable garden co-ordinator Adrian Rivers. After growing tired of the commute into London, where he worked in su-
permarkets, he downsized,moved to Sheppey, and turned his amateur gar- dening into his full-time job. “It is hugely rewarding,” he says. “Working with the trainees is fantastic –
seeing themsowthe seeds and the joy they have as their plants grow. “We work all year round on different crops. There is much excitement in
pumpkin season, and they all get somuch out of it.” There are raised beds at different heights to help those with physical dis-
abilities, and sensory elements for the partially-sighted, with plants such as grapefruitminthousedinoneof thepolytunnels. Produce is eitherusedinthe facility’s on-site café, sold in the shop or is sold to local restaurants. “We’re also very environmentally conscious,” he adds. “We re-use plastic
bottles, we’re growing strawberries in a greenhouse wall, and wemake our own compost and use old bags to growthings in. “It is challenging, some of the soil is hard to grow in and I’d say carrots are our biggest challenge because of some of the rocks in the ground.”
8 Malling July 2018
with aca Qua a
rvey, 8 2 , wa rd a
nd a n engra
t theend of themeeting. After being ma from his rolea
which wa
borough. He sta
then beca a
s then ba rted a
meaga rvey wa s amining ex
nd- n- rd
dework ha
n” to refurbish the fa nning per-
s set thewheels inmotion to raise £1 .5million to ca cilities.
ta va
“It’s afa stic cha re really a moveda
nta sks a t ha
riety of things. “We ha
Mrs Murra
since. Shewa
a ha
they give us grea y street.”
expected second term a TMBC,a
volved in the cha nd ha s spea
rity a
ble to enga nd a
round the sitea nd the
trainees get somuch out of it. They a
ge with the
nd enjoy being nd doinga
ve atrainee council a t suggestions on
nd
howto improve things – it really is atwo-wa
y beca me hea
rity duringa s ma
vily in- n un- yor of
s beenatrustee ever kinga
t the cha
vited guests. She said: “It wa rific. I ha
t asmall pa n out fromthea
re more tha ence for everyonewho ca “We ha
ses you wonderful. It wa n
d four ma
y running deputies visit us a joyed it.”
nma
TRIBUTES were pa t Spa work’s AGM to cha trustees George Ha tired a ity.
de- n of
rs with the cha s presented
rvey, who re- r-
ved
tivein theCity,MrHa t took him to Spa
for something closer to home,a tha
s avolunteer a rden tea
mlea
s amember of sta coming genera na Mr Ha
finding the sitea the cha negotia
tiring. He ha to retire a
this ha lifea ta
stic to behere. “I ha
nd it ha velea
heretha n I ha rity now ca lma ger.
s responsible for t Offha
ting thepurpose, beforere- s been cha
lls home, a irma
thetrustees for thepa Hesa
st 1 4 yea ke wa
younger peoplewith fresh idea “I will still bea s beenama
s beena
ich –aScottishwhisky bowl – de redunda rvey looked dework,
nt
ecu- nd
sed in Hilden- nd
der ff, before be-
m which a nd
n of rs.
y for s.
George Harvey and SueMurray nd Ia
herethis long.” He is repla
mvery proud to ha ced a
s cha nd Ma
id: “Thetimeis right now Council Sue Murra nd ma
sawea
round though, a ssivepa
bsolutely fa
rt ofmy n-
rnedmorefrombeing veina
ny other job, nd knows a
seeus beca nd Iwill va
the interim by former ma Tonbridgea
ll of the tra irma
vebeen n in
lling Borough y, who sa
“WewillmissGeorgesomuch. “Heha
well. “Hewill still becoming ba
yor of id:
lth of knowledge inees so
ck to
wrench to lose him completely, a
useit would besucha luehis input.”
me. yors or their nd everyone en- for some ‘fresh idea
kes wa s’
y rity’s
nnual meeting on June 2 0 , which d anew forma
t with more in- s ter-
d no ideahow it would genda, but itwa s agrea
s t experi- m rry out
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