Five Lincoln scholars have just bestowed a very special gift on the university’s catering department – a beautiful herb garden, which chefs will use when creating the culinary delights served on campus.
The Global Challenge Scholars, who have worked on projects relating to sustainability as part of their scholarships, want the project to serve as a legacy.
The gift is especially poignant, as 2019 is the final year that the Global Challenges programme will be offered at Lincoln.
“Their initial intention was that it would be a community garden, which everyone could use and look after,” said Global Challenges Coordinator Katherine Richardson.
“But they decided that for it to be a success, it needed to be used frequently and not die away if it wasn’t looked after. We approached the catering team and asked if they would like to have a garden set up for them as a gift from the scholars.
“They were very keen.”
The group sourced the necessary items for the garden, with the Facilities Management department offering to build planter boxes and provide tools for the job and the catering team giving valuable advice about herbs and sustainability.
“It ended up being a much bigger project than was originally anticipated, but one that was met with enthusiasm by the scholars,” said Ms Richardson. “The university pulled together and helped us achieve this and the result is a great showcase of working together to achieve a result that we can all be proud of.
“We can now celebrate the end result and thank everyone involved, including carpenters for building the boxes and donating materials and funding; gardeners for giving dirt, compost and tools; the nursery for providing herbs; and the catering team for contributing funding.”
The Sustainability Action Group of our Environment (SAGE), which is a campus organisation responsible for ensuring that the university treads lightly on the earth, also donated funds towards the herbs.
“It’s great that in years to come, these students will be able return to the garden as alumni and say, ‘I was a part of that,’” Ms Richardson said. “A legacy has been created.”