“It would have taken us months to achieve what they have helped us achieve today”.
Goodlives, is a produce growing site, based at West Lakes Science Park, it is under development and in the last few months, it has come on an enormous amount. It is run by the charity, Skills4You and relies solely on donations, whether 
that be monitory or manpower. This summer has seen a huge change for Goodlives, it has now has a working tap allowing water on site thanks to a donation from Kaefer. This might sound odd, for a project run in the 21st century, but for this charity, this is momentous. Up until then, Goodlives Learners would daily fill up at least 20 water containers, transport them to the site, and decant into an IBC, then decant into a watering can. No plants were dying under their watch!
It also now has an electric connection funded by Westinghouse and a promise from BBK to connect the electric to the modular kitchen once delivery takes place early November. But BBK didn’t want to stop there, Cath Howard, Environmental sustainability manager for Balfour Beaty, is on the Goodlives steering group and regularly supports the charities developments. Whether that be help spread the word, support the fundraising events, or even buying a cake from the bake sale, she supports the project, and this day was no exception.
Severfield Nuclear and Infrastructure has recently funded a poly tunnel and donated their own time to construct 2 polytunnels side by side. Now it was to the learners to make the raised beds and fill with soil – or so we thought. This is where Balfour Beaty stepped up, again, to support the project. Cath arranged for 21 members of staff to donate their time and manpower to help fill these polytunnels. Both polytunnels were filled with raised beds and soil so the Learners could come back the next day and straight away get on with planting more produce. They finished ahead of their scheduled time and instead of looking for an early exit – they weeded and barrowed some soil to help kick off another mini project on the Goodlives site.
As well as donating their time, they also arranged for a mini digger, along with a driver to be donated from G&M Lawsons to help out on the day. Martin, the driver, was able to dig holes and prep land to allow Goodlives to erect a yurt, allowing for therapeutic coaching to take place on Goodlives.
Sustainability is a huge thing for Goodlives. They are currently making batches of jams, chutneys and preserves to be able to sell to people. This not only brings in a form of income to allow them to continue with the project, but it also teaches the Learners valuable lessons. A lot of the Learners start the course relying on takeaways, pot noodles and ‘freezer teas’. Going through the course at Goodlives they are able to not only learn about the process of how produce is made, but also how to use that to make some nutritious tasty meals.
Recently, the Learners made some tomato soup made entirely from produce made by themselves at Goodlives. Thanks to BBK, we can now plant some produce that thrives when planted in the winter months. It is a certainty without the help of everyone they would not be put up before the planting season ended, meaning we had 2 polytunnels going to waste. Now there is a selection of food starting to sprout; whilst our Learners are patiently waiting to harvest. We couldn’t be more grateful for all the support and hope to see you all on site again to taste some of the delicious produce we make!
