A wildlife garden at a South Leeds school is set to flourish following a £1,000 donation from a housebuilder.
The Stephen Longfellow Academy has created a biodiversity garden complete with a bee colony and vegetable patch and plans to expand its green space with the funds received from the Persimmon Homes Community Champions scheme.
The Stephen Longfellow Academy provides primary and secondary education in Beeston to students who are not functioning effectively in mainstream education.
Ayrton Sharp, Key Stage 3 Teacher from the Academy said:
“Persimmon Homes’ generous donation will enable us to expand our biodiversity garden.
“We plan to encourage more wildlife to the area, creating greater opportunities to educate our students on their natural surroundings.
“Our main project will be to restore our current pond. We also want to encourage more wildlife to the garden and plan to install bird boxes, bug hotels and animal dens. Our next goal is to coordinate trips to other nature reserves to help expand our students’ knowledge and to understand the positive impact they can make to their natural environment.”
Under The Persimmon Homes Community Champions scheme, the West Yorkshire regional business provides financial support of up to £1,000 to two local charities or good causes, every month.
Christopher Hull, managing director for Persimmon Homes West Yorkshire, added:
“The Stephen Longfellow Academy has created a wonderful space to further educate our younger generation on the importance of preserving and improving our natural surroundings.
“We are very happy to support their project through our Community Champions scheme.”
For more information or to apply for Community Champions funding, visit www.persimmonhomes.com/charity
To follow the developments of the biodiversity garden, visit stephenlongfellow.leeds.sch.uk or @TSLA_Leeds on Twitter.
This post is based on a press release issued on behalf of Persimmon Homes
Photo: The beehive in the biodiversity garden at the Stephen Longfellow Academy
