A cricket club has seen its entrance area transformed as part of a project by Hyndburn-based landscaping specialists Nurture Landscapes.
The initiative has seen the entrance to Oswaldtwistle Immanuel Church Cricket Club (OICCC) transformed with an eye-catching garden area, including gravel, a fence, and a fantastic range of plants.
Funded by its ESG fund of £25,000 per year, Nurture Landscapes, based in Rishton, regularly works on projects in the area to give back to the community.
Regional director Will Pettit and key account manager Stuart Jones were recently invited to OICCC by chair Gerard Metcalf as a special thank you for the work.
Mr Pettit said: “I would like to say a massive thank you to the cricket club for coming to us with this project. We really do enjoy projects like this.
“It is something we want to do more of in the area and hopefully we can get involved with other local clubs too.”
Mr Metcalf added: “It has been great to welcome Will and Stuart to the cricket club to officially thank them for their efforts in supporting a community club.
“It has made a massive improvement to the entrance of the ground. This really makes it a lot more welcoming as people approach and come into the ground.
“Hopefully it will attract more visitors and attract more young people who want to get involved in the club and come and play cricket here.”
Nurture Landscapes is encouraging other local businesses, sports clubs, and schools to get in touch for their outdoor space to be renovated.
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Mr Jones said: “As part of our ESG fund, we have £25,000 a year set aside for projects like this. We had the funding approved last week and got to work straight away.
“We are very keen as a company to give back to the communities in which we operate, and projects like this are a perfect way to do that.”
The company is also heading up a recruitment push for more gardeners and landscapers to join the industry.
It is part of the Nurture Group, which employs more than 2,500 people nationwide, while at its Rishton depot, there are more than 30 gardeners and 45 office staff.
It is teaming up with Amazing Accrington to attend events and local schools to inform students about the career opportunities available.
Mr Pettit added: "We want to try and give examples of what we do to the kids because it is a really good job.
“You get to be outside all your life and there are a lot of people that love this job.
"We just want to pass that onto the younger generation, which will then hopefully try and help us with our recruitment in the future.”
Nurture Landscapes currently looks after £12 million to £15m worth of work in the North West, with grounds maintenance on hotels, retail parks, business parks, and industrial estates.
OICCC are members of the North West Cricket League and were Ribblesdale League champions in 2018.
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