Beautiful Garden Savours Sweet Smell of Success Once Again

Bield Housing And Care Press releases

Thornhill Court's Beautiful Garden It’s been another blooming brilliant year for the green fingered tenants of a Falkirk housing and day care development landing another award for its beautiful garden.

Bield’s housing and day care development at Thornhill Court, has been working on its beloved green surroundings for the past six years and has now been awarded the Keep Scotland Beautiful outstanding achievement award for the fifth consecutive year.

Angie Shanks, Resource Manager at Thornhill Court, said: “The garden project was initiated by staff six years ago to provide stimulation and motivation for tenants as well as improving their environment.

“The objective was to empower tenants to take ownership and make their own choices in respect of what flowers, colours and smells they would like to have.

“Consideration was also given to tenants who were sight impaired by planting strongly scented flowers, wind chimes and water features which give wonderful smells and sounds.

“The project gave tenants who had been keen gardeners before moving to Thornhill Court the opportunity to retain and enhance these skills and recognition from Beautiful Scotland has given them a great sense of achievement. They are already eagerly planning for 2014.”

Involving The Wider Community

The garden project has also provided an opportunity for tenants to work with people they might not normally come into contact with on a daily basis through the wider involvement of young people and community members keeping an emphasis on open-mindedness and engagement.

Rosalind Corbett, Keep Scotland Beautiful Assessor, said: “The tenants clearly take great pride in the garden, and it is wonderful to see residents outside, enjoying the space and reaping the benefits of their hard work and commitment.

“Those who take part in the maintenance of the garden clearly have the interests of all tenants in mind, and appreciate the difference to the quality of life that it can make to the tenants.

“The tenants have several ideas of how they would like the garden to be developed over the forthcoming year, and I have no doubt that due to their enthusiasm and efforts, new things will be developed and more people will be involved.”

In addition to creating a beautiful garden, tenants also designed a vegetable allotment, an insect village and pathways.

This has allowed tenants to experience a series of boosts to their health and well being, enabling them to grow their own fresh fruit and vegetables and by creating a safe, pleasant space to exercise.

Brian Logan, Bield’s Chief Executive said: “This is great news for the residents and staff at Thornhill Court who I know have worked very hard at keeping their garden area looking the best it can possibly be. A big congratulations to all involved.

“Services like this epitomise our ‘Free to Be’ philosophy enabling older people to take control of their lives whilst being given the necessary support to do so.”

Bield – a registered charity – has grown from humble beginnings, starting out with one housing development in Bo’ness to become a major provider of a wide range of housing and services for around 20,000 older people across 22 local authority areas.