One Year on at Eaton Barn, Leominster

The Poultry Houses and Outdoor Classroom donated by Powell & Co to Echo for the Eaton Barn community garden on the outskirts of Leominster continue to support participants one year on.

The four-acre community garden provides a tranquil natural environment for charity participants to engage with projects such as looking after chickens, growing fruit and vegetables, garden design and woodwork.

The chicken houses are home to 13 hens with eggs sold locally and used to make cakes. Participants have daily responsibilities looking after the chickens, which includes educational elements like weighing out the food, counting and boxing the eggs for sale. Next year Echo hopes to have an incubator to hatch their chicks which will enable them to increase the flock and egg production.

In addition to the chicken houses, Jason Powell, director and owner of Powell & Co, presented Eaton Barn with an outdoor classroom. The building has provided much needed additional space to support the learning and development of the participants that attend the community garden, which can be up to 8 per day. Alongside the outside patio area, the classroom will also help Echo generate additional income by renting out the classroom to the local community for meetings and events.

Eaton Barn has just celebrated winning the ‘In Your Neighbourhood’ award for the regional RHS In Bloom competition. The project won a Level 5 ‘Outstanding’ Award; this is an excellent accolade which is evident as you walk around the new memorial sensory garden, with help from the cart shed they have built a wonderful decking area and raised beds. The vast number of allotments and the polytunnels feature a wide range of flowers, vegetables and fruit, many of these harvested and sold by Parry’s Fruit & Veg store in Leominster.

ECHO is an independent, Herefordshire-based charity with 230 members and over 90 volunteers.  From their head office is in Leominster, Echo is a leading provider of services for people with disabilities living in Herefordshire and runs numerous projects at many community-based venues.

“The donation of the classroom and chicken houses received last year from Powell & Co was fantastic. Seeing participants enjoy the chickens and outdoor learning area over the last 12 months makes all the hard work of running our four-acre site worthwhile. Eaton Barn Community Garden is situated just out of Leominster. It is easy to find by taking the A44 Worcester Road and then the first right-hand turn towards Stoke Prior. The garden is approximately a quarter of a mile on the right-hand side and we welcome visitors Monday to Friday from 10 am to 4 pm to have a look round, buy local produce and eggs,” says Sarah Powell, Project Worker at Eaton Barn who works with Beverley Waterfield at the community garden.

“One year on it is humbling to see how much the chicken houses and outdoor classroom mean to the Echo, its volunteers and participants. Learning about where food comes from and taking responsibility for its production are helped so much if the right facilities are in place. We look forward to seeing the amazing work that continues at Eaton Barn as the garden is further developed for future participants,” commented Jason Powell, Director and Owner of Powell & Co.