Free gardening service for elderly seeking more volunteers (From Watford Observer)

Free gardening service for elderly seeking more volunteers

4:50pm Monday 17th September 2012 in News By Amie Mulderrig, Features Writer

A free gardening service set up by the Woodside Residents Action Group is proving a big hit with local pensioners - but more volunteers are needed to make the scheme a success.

The project, which is still in its early days, is aimed mainly at elderly home owners who are either disabled or unable to manage their gardens.

Geoff O’Connell, action group secretary, said: "Woodside has a large proportion of older residents, many of them living alone, who are not tenants of the Watford Community Housing Trust, and cannot always afford to pay for regular garden maintenance such as trimming trees and bushes, mowing the lawn and cutting back hedges.

"Because of the demand many commercial gardeners can charge up to £30 an hour for their services. 

"The housing trust does provide a garden service for some of its older tenants, but it is limited to a very small number as they have to cover all Watford's housing estates."

Mr O’Connell said that to start with, the Woodside tidy gardens initiative is being run jointly with the help of volunteers supplied by the Watford CVS Time Bank scheme based in Holywell, west Watford.

In the future, the Action Group hopes to have enough volunteers from north Watford to add to its own Time Bank team.

Mr O’Connell is appealing to anyone living in the Woodside area willing to give up an hour or two a week or once a month to help with the scheme, to contact him by either phoning 01923 676446 or through the group website, www.woodsideactiongroup.org.uk.