Racing Together’s Community Engagement Day is something that we look forward to each year. It gives us the opportunity to be active in the local community and give something back, while at the same time, working with colleagues in a different environment.
The towns of Malton and Norton have a long-standing connection with horses and racing and the industry provides employment for many and is a major contributor to the local economy. It was therefore an ideal opportunity to connect with the community in a different way.
Go Racing In Yorkshire organised for volunteers to spend the day working at The Croft, part of Camphill Village Trust, a charity which supports adults with learning disabilities, autism, mental ill-health and complex needs to lead a life of opportunity. The Trust has ten locations across the country and The Croft in Malton is closely integrated within the town. There is accommodation on site for 26 community members, with associated houses across the town for those who are able to live more independently. It runs daily workshops and operates The Kingfisher Café in Malton, a commercial café staffed by members and paid staff.
We spent the day working in the gardens, under the supervision of Garden Manager Lee. Lee has only been in position for three months, but already has a great vision for the 5 acre space. Prior to his appointment, the garden had become very overgrown and he has had to tap into the knowledge of the members, who are regulars in the garden to find out more about what has been grown in the past.
The majority of the garden grows fruit and vegetables for use by members and to supply The Kingfisher café. Lee explained that planning the planting and growing a wide variety is the most efficient way of ensuring that it all gets eaten before it gets the opportunity to go over. There is an orchard area with apple and plum trees and last year they were able to make their own apple juice from the abundant crop.
It is a very well-equipped area with a large greenhouse for seedlings to grow and establish, before being transferred to the cold frames and then out into the grounds. A polytunnel provides a warm growing area year-round which housed a range of vegetables and there are plans to expand this, making wider paths and raised beds so it’s easier for wheel chair users to access.
In the area in which we were working, an ornamental circle with very dark tulips was the centre piece, with stone paths leading off it, framing cheese wedge shaped plots. Several weeks before our arrival, the cheese wedge we were working on had been covered in carpet and plastic sheets to kill the overgrown grass. Our first task was to move these, revealing a family of frogs, who hopped off into the distance and re-cover the long grass areas next to these.
As we were doing this, one service member was weeding the strawberry plants that he had recently planted, while another was moving wild potato tubers to the correct bed, ensuring that the full crop was together.
Once the area was uncovered, we set about digging, under the watchful eye of Foz, the ginger Tom cat who has adopted The Croft as his home. The Croft is set in the grounds of a former quarry and as such, all the soil was imported from the nearby Wolds, meaning that it isn’t exactly indigenous to the area so this needs to be considered when choosing which species to plant as something which isn’t native might grow well and vice versa.
Joined by representatives from Pontefract Racecourse and Malton’s Racing Welfare team, we were able to share the load. Our job was to turn over the soil and remove the roots of the weeds that had relished the recent wet conditions. They were deep and plentiful and while it felt like we weren’t making much progress, by the end of the day we had nearly completed the area that we had uncovered and had the blisters to show for it!
The recent spell of warmer weather is certainly encouraging the plants (and weeds) to grow and it was a very pleasant day to spend in the garden. Not only were we helping a local charity, but it was a great opportunity to work with colleagues and others in the racing industry that we don’t get to see that often. The Community Engagement Day offers so much growth. Prior to the day, I knew about The Croft, but none of us were aware of the size of the gardens and what it offers. Our knowledge of the services it provides has grown, but also our relationships with each other and with The Croft. Although our activity was only for the day, I feel certain that this isn’t the end of our involvement with The Croft and there were conversations about further collaboration in various guises for the future….watch this space!