Bloor Homes helps school pupil's mission to bring garden back to life
An inspirational pupil is bringing her school's garden back to life thanks to a generous donation from developer Bloor Homes. Ella Preston, 15, a year 11 pupil at John Port School in Etwall, chose to embark on the ambitious project for her Duke of Edinburgh Award.
After doing work experience at a landscape architecture company, she was inspired to draw up some designs for the school garden, which has become disused in recent years.
She approached Bloor Homes, whose Alms Meadow development is located in the village, and the housebuilder agreed to donate £500 to help make her vision a reality.
Ella has enlisted the help of around 10 of her fellow pupils, and teachers Rebecca Lowndes and Kate Guest, to work on the project.
She said: "I really enjoyed my work experience and I knew the school garden was not being used so I thought this would be a great opportunity to do some more landscape gardening.
"We are going to remove the existing planting beds and replace them with two or three larger beds which will allow us to grow more vegetables and we are also going to have a seating area.
"I am so grateful to Bloor Homes for their donation and I can't wait to see the garden when it is all finished."
Teacher Kate Guest, who is the school's Duke of Edinburgh Award co-ordinator, said: "We are all very proud of Ella for having the vision to create a new garden area for the school and for having the initiative to seek support for her project.
"She is a talented landscape gardener of the future and an inspiration to her fellow pupils.
"The garden will be a place where pupils can go for quiet contemplation and I'm sure it will be a great asset for the school."
Michele Rose, Regional Sales Director at Bloor Homes Midlands, said: "We were extremely impressed with Ella's ambition to create a new garden for her school and we were delighted to support her project.
"We are looking forward to seeing the garden once it is completed and hope it will be enjoyed by pupils for many years to come."