Green-fingered schoolchildren in Derry are on a mission to plant 1,000 daffodil bulbs in school grounds right across the city.
Community gardener Gareth Austin has teamed up with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s Social Education for the daffodil planting scheme to help local school children plant the bulbs.
The project kicked off with Groarty Integrated, where every pupil in the school donned their wellies to take part in a morning of planting, which will bring colour to the school come springtime.
St Patrick’s Primary School’s gardening club showed their green fingers later the same afternoon as they made short work of their share of the planting work.
The next day’s planting took the project across the bridge as the primary fives in Ebrington Primary School took ownership of an underused piece of school ground, which was swiftly cleared of weeds and filled with hundreds of bulbs.
At Lisnagelvin Primary School the kids enjoyed the autumn sunshine as they spruced up the school’s raised beds in preparation for the spring bloom.
Oakgrove Integrated Primary School completed the hat-trick of schools involved in a busy morning as they took the days planting total to over 1,000 bulbs.
Gareth Austin said the annual daffodil project was an excellent one to get involved with.
He added: “It gives kids who might not normally be the most green-fingered a chance to get involved and they’ll love seeing the results of their hard work come spring.”
Patrick Duddy, the Housing Executive’s Social Education officer, it was “great” to give the children the opportunity to make a positive difference, especially within their own school where they will be able to watch as their hard work pays off later in the school year.
He added: “This project allows the kids to see the positive difference their actions can make to their own environment.”
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