PUPILS at Trent Young CE Primary School have seen their garden area upgraded to encourage more children to grow their own fruit and vegetables.

The school, which is located near to the A303 Sparkford to Ilchester dualling scheme, was handed £1,500 to spend on the garden project from National Highways’ social value fund which looks to give back to the community as the A303 scheme is developed.

Five new raised beds have now been installed in their allotment to give children space to grow salad crops and vegetables.

The school’s gardening club have also started to regenerate an outdoor area of the school into a reflection garden after several children and staff experienced a recent bereavement.

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This reflection space will allow for quiet reflection and processing grief whilst being outdoors. The space includes benches, shrubs and a water feature.

A reflection space at Trent Young’s CE Primary school will allow for quiet reflection and processing grief whilst being outdoors Picture: National Highways

Ben Hamblin, class teacher and Gardening Club lead, said: “We were delighted that National Highways could support our school to help us to develop our garden area.

“The funding received allowed our gardening club to construct and start using four raised beds to grow a range of vegetables, including runner beans, onions, pumpkins and courgettes.

“We were also able to redevelop an unloved piece of ground into a reflection garden with seating and shrub borders.

“This space is used by children at break and lunchtimes, and also to give children a space to remember someone they may have lost.”

Thanks to £1500 from National Highways, the school has been able to install five new raised beds in their allotment, among other additions Picture: National Highways

National Highways A303 Sparkford to Ilchester Senior Project Manager, Siân Hopkins, said: “From economic prosperity to preserving natural habitats, we know how important it is that we make a positive difference to the communities and the environment where we work.

“Social value is the sum of the benefits that we and our supply chain partners deliver for people, the environment and the economy.

“We’ve always built social value into every aspect of our network. That’s why we’re delighted to be able to offer support to organisations in the Sparkford area and we congratulate Trent Young CE Primary on being another successful applicant under this initiative.”

Over the last year, the funding has also supported The Charltons’ basketball hoops, Camelot Harriers Explorers’ camping equipment, Countess Gytha pond area and Babcary Playing Field’s cricket nets.

More information about these themes can be found on the National Highways Social Value webpage.

The scheme between Sparkford and Ilchester will not only promote economic growth in this area of Somerset, but it will also tackle a long-standing bottleneck, reduce journey times to the south west and improve traffic flows in that area at peak times and during peak seasons.

On an average day, the A303 between Sparkford and Ilchester carries 23,500 vehicles, but numbers increase significantly in the summer, particularly at weekends, making journeys unreliable and unpredictable.