Pupils at Cathedral Academy School in Wakefield are winners in the Aviva Community Awards after being given £1,000 to develop their own kitchen garden.
The bid for the award is part of an initiative from the Food Department to encourage pupils to grow food they can then use in recipes - and they can’t believe they have won the funding.
Food Technology teacher, Liz Womersley said: “We were really lucky, and we’re over the moon!
“This is going to make a massive difference to what we can do,” she added.
The Year 7 kitchen garden project and the school’s Gardening Club have already started with early plantings of onions, rocket, radishes, lettuce and garlic in the grounds of the Academy on Thornes Lane – with a little help from a local gardener who volunteers there once a week to help and advise the students.Now they plan to use the Aviva Community Fund money to buy cold frames and light boxes so they can grow veg all year round and make sure they have what they need for creating their own meals.
Each year group has the opportunity to study Food during which time the pupils would learn more about different food groups, healthy food choices, a wide range of cooking skills and where food comes.
“The pupils have already put work and time into developing this kitchen garden and now we can really get going and learn how to grow, cook and eat fresh nutritious home grown meals,” said Mrs Womersley.
Anyone or any local garden centre interested in helping the Cathedral Academy grow their kitchen garden with donations and support – just contact