News Grow 19 students working with MBC

Students from the Grow 19 Project have joined Maidstone Borough Council to help them learn land-based and functional skills.

Working alongside the MBC Environmental Services Team, the five students from Grow 19 - based at the Five Acre Wood School, Maidstone, are spending one day per week with the Council in order to gain practical skills.

The students are quite literally getting their hands-dirty with pitch-marking, weeding, cutting back shrubs and removing litter in the roles as part of MBC’s Grounds’ Maintenance and Street Cleansing teams.

Jennifer Shepherd, MBC Head of Environment and Waste Management said:

Maidstone Borough Council is delighted is to be working with the students from Five Acre Wood School in supporting their new Grow 19 project.

They are currently working in two groups with three of the young people in Grounds Maintenance being involved with pitch marking, weeding and cutting back shrubs and working in Brenchley Gardens to remove litter, with the second group joining our Street Cleansing team assisting with leafing, emptying litter bins and litter-picking.

It is fantastic to see the enthusiasm of all of the students who are so willing to get involved and learn from the people they are working with.

Grow 19 has developed an exciting and inclusive curriculum to meet the diverse needs of all its’ students and is dedicated to help them to develop and succeed in their aspirations.

The five students joined MBC in September this year, and the Project will continue until 2024. Across the five years they spend taking part in Grow 19 the students spending up to two years with the Council before seeking employment.

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