Boston Rotary club presents special school with £4,000 Garden of Reflection after 18-month project

The landscaped area at The Pilgrim School, in Amber Hill, has been created by The Rotary Club of Boston.

It was formally handed over to deputy headteacher Sharon Smith, who leads the school’s gardening club, by club president Geoff Day on Tuesday of last week.

The project cost about £4,000 and was funded by grants from the club, the Rotary Foundation (Rotary International’s charity arm), and Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers.

It began with the school approaching the club with a request to create a garden in a section of its grounds, which at the time was simply part of a grass playing field.

After six months’ planning and more than 750 hours’ work over a 12-month period, the garden was complete.

It features 650 plants and 600 bulbs and is split into four areas, one for each element: earth, wind, water and fire.

“The garden is already attracting wildlife such as bees and several different species butterfly,” said Mr Day. “Pupils at the school will now take on ownership of the garden, including on-going maintenance.”

Helen Garrett, business manager, said the school was ‘very grateful’ for all those involved in the project,

“The garden is a nurtured space for our young people to go and reflect and enjoy the colours and the smells and the peace and the quiet,” she said.

The garden was just one of the ways in which The Rotary Club of Boston was able to support the local community during the last 12 months – others included a donation of laptop computers to Giles Academy, in Old Leake, goods and money to Boston Food Bank and items to the South Lincolnshire Domestic Abuse Service.