Service for adult learners is growing

Thistles Market Garden in Sutterton offers a safe and caring learning environment for adults to develop life skills, while operating like a commercial horticultural nursery.

The new Community Benefit Society recently took over the reins of running the service from Lincolnshire County Council and it has now received a new minibus to provide transport for the people it supports.

Thistles managers Liz Judge and Sue Corr, said: “It’s really great that we now have our own transport to enable the people we support to access the community.

“Recently we have been able to support Boston with the In-Bloom efforts for this year, which would not have been possible without our minibus.”

For the past four years Thistles and its students have been major supporters of the Boston in Bloom campaigns, growing and supplying plants and helping out with planting.

Adults attending the nursery learn real-life skills, such as the experience of raising seedlings and caring for plants, and growing fruit and vegetables.

Students attend five days per week, and during the day there can be up to 30 students there at a time. The aim is to provide cooking sessions to promote healthy eating, teaching from seed to plate, with numeracy and literacy built into the programme.

One of the ways Thistles generates income is its annual campaign to provide for sale hanging baskets, which they grow from seed.

Thistles is currently applying for funding and donations towards a building to house their new bespoke kitchen, which has had a generous boost of £2,700 from Bakkavor Cucina Sano Ltd in Old Leake.

If you can offer help contact Liz or Sue on 01205 461286 or email [email protected]