In the first six months of the Green Aiders project over 100 volunteers have come to the aid and worked their magic on many Stevenage and Broxbourne sites. We wanted to share the Larwood School task in Stevenage and Holdbrook Estate task in Broxbourne with you in more detail. To view a selection of the Green Aider photographs click here.
Larwood School, Stevenage on Friday 14th March 08
Wow, what a fantastic task, many volunteers turned out from all over Hertfordshire, including community members working with The East Herts Community Team, Herts Pass, Headway, Stevenage Community Trust, residents of Hatfield and Hitchin and Stevenage, Ware and Hertford, staff members of Allen Creative in Hitchin and T Mobile in Hatfield. It turned out to be a huge social event with the added benefit of making the grounds and courtyards of Larwood School a nicer place to relax and learn for pupils. The school works with pupils up to the age of 11 years old who have behavioural difficulties and has residential facilities for those pupils who may need to stay overnight at times. We know that they will be spending many a summers evening in the warm courtyards which Green Aiders helped plant with scented and colourful plants. 
The school staff also plan to sow seeds in the courtyards with the pupils as part of their learning. In total the Green Aider volunteers planted over 150 plants in 1 day!
The school showed their appreciation by giving us all a wonderful cooked lunch. Ian Reid, Head of Care at the school and John Thurgood, school Governor were out helping us all day as well, chatting, digging and planting in the sun.
At the end of the day Ian Reid, said ‘Amazing, so many people from all over Hertfordshire all with varying abilities really mucked in to help on the day. The sun shone for us and everyone had a great time meeting each other. The school are immensely grateful to everyone for all their help’. So well done all of you who came along!
Holdbrook Estate, Waltham Cross on Sunday 30th March 08
Yet another fantastic Green Aider day! In the last year and a half, Groundwork has delivered several consultations with residents of the Holdbrook Estate asking them what improvements they would like to see on their estate. As part of this regeneration project, led by Broxbourne Council, Groundwork Hertfordshire carried out the designs for the green spaces and children’s play areas.
This Green Aider day was an opportunity for residents to join our Green Aiders in the planting in one of the play areas. County Councillor Terry Price, 23 Holdbrook residents including the Holdbrook Community Leaders joined the Groundwork Green Aider volunteers with a total number of 31 volunteers getting stuck in! This included children and young people ranging from 4 to 16 years old showing how volunteering can be enjoyed by all ages and how enthusiastic people get about making their own estates / local greenspaces better for everyone’. Although snow was forecast for this day, the sun shone for us and we got loads done and had a really good time doing it.
Many thanks to our regular volunteers for coming along and Sarah and Robbie, students studying horticulture at Capel Manor College kindly gave their time to help lead the day. 
The Green Aiders volunteer programme is funded by the National Lottery through Awards for All and The Robert Kiln Charitable Trust providing monthly volunteer opportunities in both Stevenage and Broxbourne. The aim of the programme is to encourage local residents to get involved in their local communities whilst providing an opportunity to keep fit, develop new skills and meet friends.
Groundwork Hertfordshire is currently raising more funding for the Programme. There is one more Green Aider task planned for Wednesday 28th May at Bulwer Lytton House in Knebworth. After this we will be suspending the programme whilst we continue to raise further funding.
If you are a business and would like to help fund a task in Stevenage / Broxbourne and/or send some staff along to volunteer for the day, please contact Sherry on 01707 255196 / email sherry.robinson@groundwork.org.uk
Groundwork Hertfordshire
Mill Green • Hatfield
Hertfordshire AL9 5PE
T 01707 260129
F 01707 270867
E hertfordshire@groundwork.org.uk
