United Utilities’ employees helped a community garden in Greater Manchester become dementia-friendly and more appealing to its younger visitors.
Staff from United Utilities, and its engineering contractor Laing O’Rourke joined Terry Morford, from Christ Church Community Garden to help clear a large patch of brambles at Urmston so the garden can be extended and improved.
The water company has also awarded IDEA, the environmental group that looks after the garden, a grant of £3,000 to help it develop the garden further.
Terry Morford, chair of IDEA, said: “The cheerfulness of the volunteers, and their hard work, made it a very enjoyable day and resulted in the whole area, originally covered in brambles and saplings, being cleared. It represents a huge step forward for us in developing the garden.”
The community investment is part of United Utilities’ £200 million project to refurbish and improve its Davyhulme wastewater treatment works to the needs of the growing population of Manchester.
United Utilities’ community investment fund, United Futures, run in partnership with community charity Groundwork, has awarded £48,000 to seven community projects located close to its Davyhulme wastewater treatment works, one of the biggest in the UK.
Keith Haslett, from United Utilities, said: “We want to be a good neighbour and believe it’s important to play an active part in the communities where we operate, and where our customers and employees live and work, as they’re vital to our business.”
