The Hattersley in Bloom Group had to call in ‘extra muscle’ recently when it was faced with a major job as part of its efforts to get Hattersley ready for the next stage of this national competition.
Mark Tunstall from the Hattersley Neighbourbood Partnership which is supporting the Hattersley in Bloom residents group said: “A 136 m.sq. wildflower bed on Underwood Road which needed digging out and re-turfing would have been too big a project for our Hattersley in Bloom residents. We asked social landlord Peak Valley if it could help in any way.”
Peak Valley Housing Association is part of the Contour Housing Group which is one of the region’s biggest housing and regeneration companies. Fortunately for Hattersley in Bloom it had recently employed a group of young men in Oldham via the Future Jobs Fund which provides work placements for 18 – 24 year olds.
Samantha McHale from Contour said: “When we asked the Oldham group if they fancied a day out in Hattersley they were more than happy to help local residents in their bid for Britain in Bloom.”
The young men shifted around 4 tonnes of soil and re-laid the area with turf. Mark Tunstall said: “They really worked their socks off and simply got on with this massive job with a lot of laughter and good humour. They were scheduled to be with us for one day but unanimously decided to return for a few hours the following day to make sure the job got done. Without their help I am not sure we could have completed it.”
The Hattersley Britain in Bloom project is community led and funded by local residents. The Group is also providing hanging baskets, planting boxes and street planters around the Underwood Road/Melandra Crescent area.
“The great thing about schemes like the Future Jobs Fund is of course the work opportunities created for unemployed young people,” said Samantha. “However on this occasion it is also supporting two local communities in the North West.”
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