Volunteers 'muck in' as work starts on Rugby care home garden

The garden of a Rugby care home run by Warwickshire-based charity WCS Care is a step closer to being transformed, thanks to the work of an orange army of volunteers from Network Rail.

Last year, residents at Mill Green – which is situated on Newbold Road in Newbold-on-Avon and provides long and short-term care for people with physical disabilities or long-term conditions – announced they’d been awarded £10,000 from a Tesco funding scheme.

The supermarket group teamed up with Groundwork for the Bags of Help initiative, which sees grants of £8,000, £10,000 and £12,000 – raised from the 5p bag levy – awarded to local outdoor community projects.

Millions of shoppers voted in stores across the country with residents at Mill Green receiving £10,000 to put towards a new garden including a sensory area, improved wheelchair access, and water features.

Last month, a team of over 20 volunteers from Network Rail and ABC (Alstom, Babcock and Costain) offered their time to clear out the old outdoor space in preparation for work on the inspirational new space, as part of the company’s annual Community Days scheme.

Alison King, Assistant Commercial Manager at Network Rail and former carer at Mill Green, said: ‘With the railway touching almost every community in Britain, we’re always keen to help improve the environments of the people we serve by getting involved in projects that do just that, through our Community Days scheme.

‘We’d heard about plans to transform the garden at Mill Green and jumped at the chance to lend a hand. With fantastic weather and a team of Network Rail volunteers, we got stuck in removing trees, painting and generally tidying up the outside space ready for the main design work to start.’

Lynn Randall, Home Manager at Mill Green, said: ‘While the old space was welcoming for residents, staff and visitors, it needed updating to ensure it can cater for people’s changing needs – we’re really excited about creating a fantastic garden that everyone can enjoy.

‘The volunteers from Network Rail did a fantastic job to help clear out the old garden in preparation for work on the new one, so we’d like to say a big thank you to the team and other local companies who’ve given their services for free for the benefit of people living here.’

Residents and staff at Mill Green have chosen their favourite design for the new garden, which is due to be completed later this Spring.