A Derbyshire social project which helps people who have been through homelessness is blooming with the help of a whopping eight-tonne topsoil donation so they can grow their own veg.

The donation to Derventio Housing Trust’s Growing Lives project in Ilkeston has been made by Alfreton-based Leedale Ltd, which provides a range of services to the construction industry, such as waste management. The topsoil was sourced from local construction projects, and was screened and tested at Leedale Ltd’s recycling yard in Alfreton.

Growing Lives is an activities project run by the housing trust which provides people in its properties, and referred there via other services, with communal activities such as woodworking, craft, walks and gardening, with the aim of creating a supportive, caring environment and helping them get back on their feet again.

People are helped by Derventio Housing Trust which provides them with accommodation if they have recently been homeless.

Leedale Ltd dropped off eight tonnes of topsoil which was transported to the garden by Derventio Housing Trust staff and residents using wheelbarrows.

Penny Wiltshire, funding and development manager at Derventio Housing Trust, who was introduced to Leedale through their work with Derby and Sandiacre Canal Trust, said: “It just goes to show that through creating valuable networks we can work together to provide projects like Growing Lives with resources that they really need. There is so much goodwill in the world, not to mention resourcefulness, which is how this topsoil donation has come about!

“I’d like to thank Oliver Walkup from Leedale along with all the organisations who helped make this happen including Long Eaton Rotary, Erewash Borough Council and Marketing Derby.”

Wayne Rodgers, who has been helped by Derventio Housing Trust and is a regular at Growing Lives – which provided him with his first ever holiday in 2022 when he was 54 – said: “Growing Lives is a place where you can relax and forget about your problems. You’re kept so busy here you haven’t got time to think about what’s going on in your life. This place is in my blood, I feel part of the furniture!”

Rachael Tomlin, a tutor at Growing Lives, said: “The garden soil is mainly sub soil and we have been working very hard to grow a lot of things here. We have struggled and it was mentioned that we could really do with some topsoil.

“Thanks to this donation we can now grow all the lovely produce that we have planned for this site! We’re hoping to grow courgettes, carrots, we have got lettuces, radishes, tomatoes, potatoes and beans. Everything we grow, we’ll be putting in meals we’re cooking.”

Another Derventio Housing Trust resident, Garry Welsh, said he enjoyed being in the garden having spent time outdoors with his family at a younger age.

He said: “Coming to Growing Lives gives me something to wake up in the morning for. I’ve not really grown anything since I was younger. It makes me feel brilliant here.”

The team at Leedale Ltd removes construction and demolition waste from building sites to bring back to its recycling yard where it is then filtered, treated and screened to create quality aggregates, including topsoil, which can then be used again.

Ben Hammond, head of business development at Leedale Ltd, said: “At Leedale we are proud to support charities and organisations as and where we can and when Derventio explained this cause to us, it was the least we could do.

“Hearing the story behind what the donation was going to support, it was a no brainer for us to get involved in such a great cause. The whole team at Derventio is great to deal with and it’s a pleasure to be able to support them.”

Baroness Morgan of Cotes has praised the Leicester and Leicestershire careers team tasked with bridging the gap between schools, colleges, and businesses.

The former Loughborough MP, now chair of the Careers and Enterprise Company, says the work of the LLEP Careers Hub is a “shining example” of what can be achieved.

Careers hubs boost their local economies by bringing local employers together with education providers. In doing so, they deliver a quality standard in careers advice as young people plan their next move in life.

Baroness Morgan introduces the Leicester and Leicestershire Careers Hub Impact Report 2018-23, which is published this week. “The Leicester and Leicestershire Careers Hub is a shining example of what we wanted to achieve,” she writes.

“The LLEP Careers Hub – like so many nationwide – provides educators with opportunities to engage purposefully with employers. I want young people to be confidently prepared for the future, through a system that’s ready for the future too. Careers Hubs are a key part of that vision.”

The local Careers Hub works closely with the national Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) in ensuring that every young person in its area is informed about the choices available to them post-education.

It also works with a host of Enterprise Advisers – local business leaders who go into schools to talk about jobs, careers, apprenticeships, and other opportunities in industry.

A celebration event is being held this week to mark the achievements of the Careers Hub during its first five years.

LLEP Chief Executive Phoebe Dawson said: “Much progress has been made by our Careers Hub since it launched in 2018 and the LLEP Board recently agreed to extend its funding through to August 2024.”

Some of the gains have been replicated nationally.

A big part of the journey towards ensuring all schools and colleges have stable careers programmes began in Loughborough. The Bridge to Work pilot was set up when Baroness Morgan was Education Secretary.

Her foreword to the report recalls: “At that time, employers were telling us young people did not have the skills they needed. Young people were telling us they felt unsupported as they prepared to enter the world of work.

“I’d become involved with the Bridge to Work scheme running in my Loughborough constituency. It was bringing employers into schools, raising aspirations, and boosting social mobility – it was scaled up and applied at a national level.

“The LLEP Careers Hub – like so many nationwide – provides educators with opportunities to engage purposefully with employers. That builds understanding of local sectors, pathways, and careers. And that grows regional economies.”

Those attending this week’s event will hear about the significant impact of the Careers Hub, including the number of schools in Leicester and Leicestershire with a stable careers programme having increased by 63% since the hub launched.