Plockton High School Hostel created a homely garden from an exposed, stony and poor soil wasteland site with £10,000 from Tesco Bags of Help for ground improvements.

Improving the grounds was very important to enhance a hostel, which is home for 40 secondary school boarding pupils who live too far away to travel to school daily. Pupils come from remote catchment areas such as Applecross and Arnisdale. Pupils from all over Scotland join local hostel residents as the school is also the National Centre of Excellence for Traditional Music.

"This is home for young people during the week and some weekends in school term times. Our growing project for growing minds was so important to create pleasing surroundings."

- Jean Bliss, Houseparent

Jean consulted with student residents to see what they would like to do with their grounds before applying to purchase tools, equipment, a storage shed, plants/seeds, compost/topsoil, fertilizers, chips, and to be more environmentally friendly, water butts and compost bins.They started with hiring a digger/driver to clear gorse and then created a garden where the colours are fantastic and varied.

"Absolutely 100% amazingly amazing, so in love with the garden!"

- Hostel pupil

Much work has been done since with help from a huge number of volunteers, local businesses as well as staff and residents. The improvements also increased access to the communal polytunnel for learning support and biology class pupils from the school.

Key Facts
Location: Plockton, Wester Ross (IV52 8TU)
Project type: Young People Growing
Bags of Help Funding: £10,000
Grantee: Plockton High School Hostel
Website: www.plocktonhighschool.wixsite.com/amploc

View the printable pdf Garden Growing Project Plockton Hostel 

See all Tesco Bags of Help Case Studies

Up to £2000 is available from Tesco Bags of Help to support a wide range of projects that benefit your local community. Tesco Bags of Help is administered by Groundwork working with greenspace scotland to support applicants and successful projects in Scotland. 
Find out more

Connect with us on Twitter @greenspacescot and Facebook @scotbagsofhelp