Local youth plant garden at St Andrew’s Court, our new Hull care home

Exemplar Health Care’s newly-opened Hull care home for complex needs, St Andrew’s Court, has a beautiful new garden – thanks to young local community volunteers.

Young volunteers from Youth in Nature, a lottery-funded wildlife organisation, planned the care home’s garden several months ago. Then, adult volunteers picked up spades and shovel to make their plans a reality.

Step outside the courtyard at the custom-built, 18-room home in Gipsyville, west Hull, and you’ll see freshly-planted evergreen trees, flowerbeds, a raised herb garden, bird boxes, and a pond.

Last week, as St Andrew’s Court prepared to welcome its first residents, a dozen young people from Youth in Nature visited to see the garden.

‘A nice sight’

“It’s a nice sight,” said Mason Moss, a 13-year-old volunteer.

“We’ve tried to pick out plants that last all year round, so that people can always see them.”

To design the garden, Mason and other volunteers researched flowers and plants to benefit the home’s residents – and local wildlife.  

The Commissioning Home Director of St Andrew’s Court, Kath Dye, called the young people who designed the garden an “inspiration.”

“It’s really important that we engage with the local community, and that the local community engages with us,” said Kath.

“These young people are an inspiration. They’ve designed the garden, seen it through. You could just tell they were so interested in every feature they’ve put in the garden.”

‘A place in the world’

While at the home, Youth in Nature volunteers decorated cupcakes and pebbles – with prizes for the winners.

“This garden’s about community and making a contribution,” said Sue Balthazar, a project coordinator at Probe, an umbrella organisation behind Youth in Nature.

“A lot of our young people are often on the receiving end of things.

But in this case, they are the ones who are creating something for someone else to enjoy, and that gives them confidence and a bit of a place in the world.”