The Berrington Garden Project

A large part of the project has involved working in close collaboration with our community partners, including Westfield School, to make sure the vision for the garden is co-created and beneficial for the local community. Westfield School is a Special School in Herefordshire for pupils with severe or complex learning difficulties between the ages of two and 19. At the beginning of this year, two sixth form students started volunteering with our garden team. During February, this expanded to a larger group who have been working on more complex projects, including creating stepping logs for the natural play area and opening up vistas in the parkland, all of which has directly supported the Berrington Garden Project.

Each week we have been working with SHYPP (Supported Housing for Young People project) to hold creative workshops at Berrington. SHYPP is an award winning project that works to inspire young people to dream more, learn more, do more and become more. They aim to help young people get through tough periods and make a positive transition into an independent thriving lifestyle. Their partnership with Berrington Hall began as a way of engaging different groups from the community with our walled garden. We are doing this as part of the Berrington Garden Project. One aim of the project is to work with local groups, from all backgrounds, to see how they can use the walled garden in a positive way. This year the partnership is developing through holding these workshops which involve the Berrington team, volunteers and members of SHYPP. Keep your eyes peeled to see what we get up to.

We have teamed up with the creative minds of the Hereford College of Arts to see how the students engage with the gardens and use different artist techniques to represent it in their new exhibition 'Patina'. You can see this series of art pieces all the summer, weaved throughout the gardens and each with their own hidden meaning. This partnership has been formed as part of the Walled Garden and Pleasure Ground Restoration Project. We are hoping that partnerships such as this will encourage people from every part of the community to feel in touch with Berrington throughout the project, and help us keep it here for ever, for everyone.