23 July 2024
Severn Trent Green Power is helping feed and nurture the next generation of growers by donating a tonne of compost to a Kidlington school’s garden project.
The premium compost was delivered to West Kidlington Primary School off Oxford Road, Kidlington, to support the ongoing garden project which began earlier this summer.
Transforming an unused area of the school playground, local businesses, parents, children and local volunteers have waded in since June to help create a space where vegetables, herbs, fruit and flowering plants are now abundant in raised beds and sit alongside bee habitats and water-collection butts in a relaxing and inspiring space for all at the school to use.
Johan Kidson, Green Waste Site Manager at Severn Trent Green Power said: “Green Power is keen to support the communities in which we operate and the opportunity to see our compost being put to great use in growing produce to feed and inspire a young generation of would-be gardeners is great news. We’re delighted to have helped and look forward to seeing what it is used to grow.”
Louisa Heywood, a parent and volunteer at the school who led the project, said the garden may eventually supply enough food to support the school kitchen or to help parents struggling with their food shopping.
She said: “We are extremely grateful to Severn Trent Green Power for donating the compost to our project. It will make a huge difference to the health of our garden and will also teach and promote the life cycle and benefits of recycling garden waste. The children are inspired and learning so much through our garden and it's wonderful to have the support from a local business.”
The nutrient-rich compost starts life as garden waste, from both local authority collections and commercial gardeners and landscapers. It’s deposited at one of Green Power’s two composting sites at either Showell (Chipping Norton) or Wallingford, where it is litter-picked and shredded, before being arranged into windrows, allowing the biology necessary for composting to start. It’s then turned and filtered, enabling the microbes to activate in the material. Temperatures in the compost can reach 60-70C during this process. After about six weeks, the compost is ready to be used for growing the next generation of crops and other plants.
The garden is currently filled with a diverse array of food and herbs, including pumpkin, sweetcorn, onion, beetroot, carrot, sage, mint, cabbage, tomato and much more – all of it grown from seed at the school.
Children are encouraged to use the space during break times and can learn more about the different plants thanks to signs staked into the raised beds.
Over the summer, volunteers will help to keep the garden watered and weeded, ready for when the pupils return in September.
Notes for editors:
Green Power plays a big part in Severn Trent’s Triple Carbon Pledge, a commitment to reduce the group’s carbon footprint to zero, operating a fully electric fleet of vehicles and using only 100%
renewable energy, all by 2030.
About Severn Trent Green Power
Severn Trent Green Power (STGP) is a leading renewable energy company specialising in organic waste recycling. Through anaerobic digestion (AD) and in-vessel composting, STGP transforms food and garden waste into renewable energy (green gas and electricity) and valuable by-products like bio-fertiliser for agriculture and compost. With a growing network of facilities across the UK, STGP is committed to sustainable waste management solutions and driving the UK's transition to a circular economy. The company also manages a portfolio of additional renewal energy sources, including solar farms and wind and hydro turbines around England and Wales.