Eco Sustainable Solutions Donates 28 Tonnes to Community Projects
Hurn-based organic recycling and waste processing company, Eco Sustainable Solutions, is better known for its work across the conurbation taking household food waste and green bins away and turning them into clean energy or compost. Behind the scenes however, the team at Eco are doing much more and have been helping out local charities across the county by donating much-needed products and supplies.
In 2022 alone, Eco donated over 28 tonnes of product to over 13 different organisations including The Big Yellow Bus Garden Project in Shillingstone, Your Planet Doctors for Stourfield Infant School and the Grow Your Own Rainbow Garden project on the Beaufort Estate both in Southbourne, Grounded Community for its Secret Garden in Boscombe and also for its project at Christchurch Infant School, High Mead Therapy Farm in Ferndown, Portfield School in Hurn, Bournemouth University, Macmillan, and The Parks Foundation – the local charity enhancing BCP’s green spaces.
Founder of The Big Yellow Bus Garden Project, Paul Williams, commented: ‘We have a lot of land to look after, and it supports so many people with the food we grow so it’s vital that we have the right products. Eco’s generosity in donating much needed compost, mulch and bark has meant that we can use our limited funds to go back into some of the other elements we need to feed our community such as paying for seeds, plants, and equipment.’
Initially aimed at young people challenged with mental health issues, The Big Yellow Bus Garden Project is now a resource for the whole community. The project’s four acres of 100% pesticide-free land includes a formal landscape garden with a 14-metre wildlife pond, sunken bird hide and a firepit, a community growing space that produces plenty of fruit and vegetables for local food banks and local residents, as well as a large cut flower area where visitors can pick their own flowers. The site also has a one-acre wildflower orchard which is enjoyed by visitors as well as the resident bees whose honey is sold with a donation going to the Big Yellow Bus Garden Project.
Mark Gregory, Co-founder of High Mead Farm, said: ‘We offer a therapeutic and supportive work environment for people with disabilities, mental health issues and those recovering from illness. We create purposeful roles within our farm environment within horticulture, animal care and woodworking, to bring a sense of well-being and self-worth that many have never experienced before – a chance to grow.
‘We are on a four-acre site, on Ham Lane near Longham where we welcome people to come and utilise the therapeutic environment, as part of their care package or recovery. We have got a lot of land that needs a lot of care and nourishment and Eco’s donations have been so important, we mostly use the Eco Mix Organic Soil Improver in planting, and it makes such a difference to the quality of the plants.’
Eco plans to continue its donations to community projects throughout Dorset, as Justin Dampney, Managing Director at Eco, explains: ‘We’ve been a part of the community for over 30 years, we all live here, we care about where we live, and it’s so important to us that we support as many of these incredible organisations as possible. It’s always so inspiring to meet the people behind these fantastic efforts, to see how they help their own communities, and we couldn’t be prouder to help support where we can.’
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