Garden Seeds Working Together
WORKING TOGETHER - report by Glynnis Fox - March 2010
TEAMWORK is the key to boosting success for a
Lincolncharity, a social enterprise and a county seeds business – whose winning move spells great news for people with disabilities, gardening enthusiasts and the environment.
By sharing their skills, Welton-based Original Touch,
Lincolncharity Pelican Trust and
Working
Gardens(a sister social enterprise to The Hub in Beaumont Fee), are determined to make life better for others, as well as spread the word about what they do. Pelican, on the Allenby Road Industrial Estate, provides training and education for disadvantaged adults who need supported work experience and help to find jobs.
It got involved with The Healthy Hub when it launched 16 months ago, by providing it with marketing materials. Pelican’s own learners and those of the Hub both benefited.
Business Women’s Link members recently toured Pelican’s premises. The group included Original Touch owner Samantha Ford who snapped-up the opportunity to get a quote for some printing and who also decided to offer free seeds for Pelican’s trainees to grow. 
Sadly, there was nowhere to plant them, but not for long!
Working
Gardens– launched by The Hub’s directors Roger Moors and Rebecca Dray to offer gardening services and encourage people to grow their own food – stepped in and installed at hot-house at Pelican. Mrs Ford now supplies free seeds for the greenhouse and also to
Working
Gardens.
Pelican chief executive officer Stacey Gillott said: “This three-way partnership is fantastic. Working Gardens involves all our learners in the planting and care of the plants, while we print all the literature needed by all the organisations involved.
“Meanwhile Original Touch offers support and advice on all aspects of gardening to
Working
Gardens, which will supply us with salads and vegetables free of charge, while we provide further training for its people.”
Mrs Ford said: “We have a lot of experience in running gardening clubs for schools and we are very enthusiastic about promoting the benefits of gardening to all members of the community. The knock-on effects include reduced air miles and the impact on climate-change.
“We suggested seed growing to the Pelican Trust, because we felt it would fit in well with our philosophy of helping community projects. We were also very enthusiastic about the benefits and self-satisfaction that growing plants offered the individuals involved.”
Original Touch is teaming up with
Working
Gardens, again, to create a garden at an Ingham Primary School. It is hoped that students will benefit from this as part of their curriculum, and that it will complement what they learn about the outdoors, recycling and healthy eating, helping them to grow into “eco-wise” adults.
Working
GardensRoger Moors said: “We recognise that many people find employing gardeners quite stressful. Our research suggested that trust and price were the two biggest factors influencing choice, so this seemed the ideal business for social enterprise.
“Both the Hub and
Working
Gardensare Community Interest Companies, which means it isn’t about making money for money’s sake. We have a commitment to reinvest our profits back into the community of
Lincoln.
“We provide a range of garden maintenance services to both the public and business customers, including everything from grass-cutting to hedge-trimming, tree-work to weeding.
“But the social aims and objectives of the business include the promotion of local vegetable growing and providing training to the community on the merits of local food. Our work with the Pelican Trust and Original Touch are helping us to do this.”
