COUNTY LIFEMATTERS
Mark Lane Set to Transform Garden AT LEONARD CHESHIRE HOME IN BEDFORDSHIRE
Fairfield Park Lower School SUCCESS IN THIS YEAR’S BIG COMPETITION
award-wInnIng garden desIgner, BBC TV presenter and writer, Mark Lane, is set to design a sensory garden for a Leonard Cheshire care home in Ampthill, Bedfordshire. Leonard Cheshire is a charity, supporting people to live, learn and work, as independently as they choose, whatever their ability. Earlier this year, the National Garden Scheme made Leonard Cheshire one of its Gardens and Health beneficiaries, with a donation of £120,000 to develop sensory gardens and horticultural volunteering projects for disabled people across the UK. The charity is using part of the money to develop a sensory garden at Agate House, which is home to 36 adults with physical disabilities. The land around the home has potential for development, but is not currently accessible to everyone. With the support of Mark and the National Garden Scheme, the charity plans to transform part of the grounds into a sensory garden which will be fully inclusive for all. The project will give residents of Agate House the opportunity to experience the enormous benefits gardens can bring to people’s health, happiness and wellbeing. Commenting on the project, Mark said: “Gardens that are fully accessible or inclusive help bring communities together, help tackle isolation, but above all are great fun and incredible for both mental and physical wellbeing. Gardening can be a sociable activity or a quiet personal activity; either way, everyone can garden no matter their ability.” Jane, a resident of Agate House, said: “I love to see the flowers in the garden and can’t wait for all of us to be able to use the new space that Mark has designed.”
Are You Always Working? THEN ITS TIME TO TAKE CONTROL
It’s probably true! Within Europe we are the country with the longest working hours, compared to Sweden and Switzerland’s six hour working day and the Netherlands longer weekends and “out of rush hour” starting times. Spire Harpenden Hospital, offer a few tips for taking control of stress in the workplace: • Prioritise your work - to help you manage your time, or break your tasks down into smaller, more controllable tasks. • Don’t avoid a difficult task - tackle them first thing in the morning when you are most productive and less likely to be tired. • Try to keep multitasking to a minimum to increase your productivity and reduce the stress of doing more than one thing. • Take a break. If you start to become overwhelmed, take a walk or get a hot drink to clear your mind. • Don’t take work home with you - prioritising quality time will help your productivity and make you happier. • Talk about your feelings with others. By talking to your manager or colleague about your mental health, you will be able to get the support and guidance that you need. Remember, happiness is the highest form of health! Spire Harpenden Hospital specialises in a range of medical treatments and wellness checks. If you need any of their services, visit
www.spireharpenden.com for more information and how to book your appointment.
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faIrfIeld park lower school near Stotford, Bedfordshire, was recently presented with a trophy to celebrate success in this year’s Big Pedal competition. Fairfield Park finished ahead of over 1,600 schools throughout the country who took part in the competition between 23rd April and 4th May. The school recorded 3,460 active journeys during the two week challenge, with 81% of pupils choosing to scoot or cycle to school. Alister Barclay, Sustrans Schools Officer for Central Bedfordshire, presented the award during a special celebration assembly. Organised by Sustrans, the charity that’s making it easier to walk and cycle, the Big Pedal is the biggest annual competition of its kind in the UK. Its aim is to get more young people cycling and scooting to school. On each day of the challenge, schools compete to see who can record the greatest number of pupils, staff and parents cycling or scooting to school. Thirty eight schools in Central Bedfordshire took part in the Big Pedal challenge this year, clocking up 90,000 active travel miles between them. Other schools that achieved a top 100 placing included Moggerhanger Lower School, Slip End Lower School, St Vincent’s Roman Catholic Primary School (Houghton Regis), Gothic Mede Lower School (Arlesley), Etonbury Academy (Arlesley), Priory Academy (Dunstable) and All Saint’s Academy (Dunstable). Speaking after the presentation Alister Barclay said; “The school and community always get behind this challenge and I’m really pleased that their efforts have been rewarded with this first place. The network of safe, off-road routes connecting Fairfield Park to Arlesey, Stotfold and Letchworth clearly supports pupils and their families, and would have a massive impact if replicated elsewhere.” This year’s competition was backed by world record breaking cyclist Mark Beaumont and sponsored by Micro Scooters and Tonik. To mark the launch of the annual event Sustrans commissioned ICM to carry out a poll of children aged 6-15 around air quality issues. The survey found that a third (32%) of respondents in the East of England were worried about poor air quality. Almost one in three (32%) of those surveyed thought that encouraging more people to cycle, scoot or walk to school would be the best way to help to reduce levels of air pollution.
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