Maria Eagle MP visits Grow Speke to thank our volunteers
Published: 18 September 2023
Maria Eagle MP visited our community garden, Grow Speke, last week to catch up on developments at the site and thank our volunteers for their support throughout the year.
The Labour MP for Garston and Halewood took time out to visit the community garden, built on former derelict land near Dam Wood Road, to give special recognition to South Liverpool Homes’ volunteers at both Grow Speke and our community shop, The Market Place.
Maria was given a guided tour of the site, which she has been a long-term supporter of, and saw the latest additions to Grow Speke’s offer, including the ornamental fishpond, apiary, indoor kitchen and raised vegetable beds. She even took the time to try out our new outdoor exercise equipment!
Fifteen regular volunteers were presented with recognition certificates and shopping vouchers, as a small token of our appreciation for the work they do, maintaining the community garden, helping out at events and running our community shop, which works in harmony with Grow Speke to provide fresh, locally produced food for our communities.
Speaking in her regular email newsletter to constituents, Maria said, “Grow Speke is somewhere I always enjoy visiting and I was pleased to speak to some of their volunteers and hand out thank you certificates and gifts in recognition of all the hard work they have put in over summer.
“Much of what is produced at Grow Speke ends up being sold at SLH’s The Market Place shop, which provides residents in need with £15 of produce for £3 a week. I will be visiting The Market Place next week to hear about the great work they do there.”
“It was great to welcome Maria back to the garden, which continues to evolve and broaden its offer to local people,” said Joe Cummings, Community Investment Manager at South Liverpool Homes.
“Maria has supported Grow Speke since its inception, planting trees on the site as part of the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy initiative when she visited in 2018 and judging our pumpkin-carving competition during lockdown in 2020. Our volunteers were thrilled to meet Maria and receive well-deserved recognition for their year-round commitment to South Liverpool Homes’ community investment projects.”