A group of young people on Inspire Suffolk’s team programme have been working hard to benefit the residents of a nursing home by improving their garden area.

The youngsters have been working at Aldringham Court Nursing Home, located between Leiston and Aldeburgh, and as part of their course are required to plan, raise funds for and lead a project of their choice to benefit their community.

Team members have completed tasks including building planters, creating a colourful mural to echo the theme of birds in the garden, building bird houses, clearing out, weeding and general maintenance of the gardens.

They also put their hard work into fundraising, which will go towards the garden project for the residents.

Neil Fox, Inspire Suffolk Team Leader of the Leiston Team, said: “The community project stage of Team programme provides a fantastic opportunity for our young people to build so many skills – teamwork, leadership, confidence and physical skills – which all can be applied in future situations.

“The team have worked incredibly hard on this project and we have seen so much positive progression in our young people.”

Jayne Haskins, manager of Aldringham Court Nursing Home in Aldeburgh Road, said: “The residents loved having the students join them and the fruits of their labour are now being enjoyed by everyone.

“We would like to extend our thanks to everyone for their time, effort and energy and for bringing even more colour to our gardens this summer.”

Charity Inspire Suffolk, which supports young people onto a positive future, runs Team programme in six locations across Suffolk and North Essex, including Leiston.

Team programme, which is free to take part and delivers a Prince’s Trust qualification, offers support to young people between 16 and 25 who are not in education or employment – helping them to improve their confidence and move onto new opportunities.

As well as their community project, the 12-week programme is made up of a variety of activities including a residential trip, helping people in their communities, work experience and professional advice such as how to write a CV.

Find out more at www.inspiresuffolk.org.uk