On Friday 18th September Vauxhall City Farm were pleased to welcome Wates Interiors and many of their contractors for their annual community day.
Wates had approached Vauxhall City Farm in June to ask if there was any internal or external decoration that needed doing – with glee we responded with a wish list of ideas including refurbishing the classroom, sorting out our guttering and water collection, building a new ‘pig scratching’ wall and renewing the roof on the duck houses, to name but a few.
However, Wates were not perturbed and enlisted the help and generosity of their supply chain to ensure that they could do as much as possible on the day.
After a 7am start, the staff of Wates and contractors began to arrive and a whole day of industry took shape – the atmosphere was fantastic, and even the visitors to the farm were impressed with the amount of work that was being done.
The hard work paid off and at the end of the day Wates had:
- Given electricity to the new Ecopod for the young people
- Painted and refreshed most of the farmyard
- Replaced roofing to the duck houses
- Built a new ‘log’ wall in the pond area, with scratching areas for pigs
- Replaced and cleared guttering and donated 3 water butts
- Replaced broken glass around the farm
- Cleared all of the farm ‘junk’ into a massive skip
- Completely refurbished the classroom with carpet, decorations, blinds,
new doors and lighting
The effort that was put into the day was amazing and the farm staff, volunteers, committee and animals (as well as visitors) are extremely pleased with the outcome.
Vauxhall City Farm’s Director, Sharon Noble said ‘ What a fantastic day, I am exhausted, and didn’t do any of the hard work. We are really indebted to Wates Interiors and all of their workers and contractors for the effort that went in, not just today, but in the lead up to today as well’
Alex Grey – a Young Farmer said: ‘It’s wicked that we now have electricity in our Eco Pod – now it can really be our little place!’
The last surprise was the gift of a new hoover for the classroom carpet and a cheque for £500 for the farm from Wates Family trust!
Jim Watts, Senior Operations Manager for Wates said: ‘We were absolutely delighted to be involved with a project that gives so much back to the community. A truly fantastic place.’
Vauxhall City Farm would like to express their thanks for the efforts and a great day and improvement to the farm, and we hope that we can work with Wates again in the future.
