We first met Nik in January of this year when Severfield very kindly donated Goodlives some funds to buy a polytunnel. Goodlives is a 1.6-acre food growing site, based at West Lakes Science Park ran by the charity Home to Work. The land was gifted 2 years ago by the BEC when it was wasteland. It is now a thriving piece of the community and that is largely due to the generous donations and offers of help, like the one from Severfield. Nik was interested in what Goodlives was about and wanted to know more about the polytunnel and what will happen next. He walked round the picturesque site, admiring the vast array of different crops Goodlives grows. He even took a couple vegetables to try for his tea!
Nik was clearly affected by the stories Karen, Home to Work’s Managing Director, was sharing. Karen told him how important Goodlives is to many people and how it helps people who suffered from poor mental health. Karen told him about a Learner who used to break shop windows so they could be arrested, as they saw prison as their safe place. Learners who were constantly told by others how they’ll never amount to anything, so they started to believe it. Quite often, the school system had failed Learners, because they weren’t academic or couldn’t pass tests they were labelled ‘useless’. Goodlives does not think this way, it encourages the positives, just because you don’t thrive in a classroom setting doesn’t mean you can’t have a wonderful outlook. You can be part of a team who creates a path for others to walk on, who takes a seed and turns it into a meal for you to enjoy with friends or family. Fortunately for Goodlives, Nik really listened and was keen to get involved.
And that’s exactly what he did! Six months later, his team have put up not only the Polytunnel that was bought from their generous donation but also another polytunnel that Goodlives were able to from generous donations by Orano. What’s even more amazing, is the fact they donated this manpower in their spare time. Summer evenings instead of enjoying BBQ’s, beer gardens and fun with their families, they were at Goodlives helping those who really need it. They helped with solutions to real problems. Learners informed the team about their frustrations about rabbits getting to their crops that they work so hard to make. Again, Nik listened, and found a solution. They were kindly donated a digger by G & AM Lawson, which allowed them to dig a trench to tuck the polytunnel skin under allowing it to be pest proof!
Goodlives now has 4 polytunnels, which is fantastic! We can now open the doors to even more Learners to be part of the course. Severfield, you really are amazing, everyone at Goodlives cannot thank you enough! We hope to see you for a veg box soon!
