Inside Grow's £3 million plans

Monday 04 January 2021

Guernsey’s Rural Occupational Workshop is priming itself for a busy New Year after securing planning approval for its ambitious re-development plans.

An application for a Certificate of Lawful Use has recently been approved and the charity's extensive re-development plans were rubber-stamped by the Development & Planning Authority last month.

The driving force behind the charity's plans is the desire to provide purpose-built training workshop areas without sacrificing Grow's horticultural environment, which they hope will make the vinery the ‘come to’ place for people with learning and other disabilities.

These ambitious plans to re-design the entire site come with a price tag of between £2.5m - £3m and the directors of Grow are appealing to the island’s business community to help drive the project to a successful conclusion.

Pictured: Grow wants to provide purpose-built training workshop areas so they can support crew members to learn a range of different skills. 

With a range of sponsorship and funding opportunities on offer, they are hoping to appeal to budgets across the board in both cash and pro bono donations.

“Plans for the re-development of Grow’s vinery site were, unfortunately, put on the back burner whilst the charity, and the island community as a whole, rose to the challenge of the Covid-19 lockdown and the subsequent exit from the pandemic's restrictions," said Manager Eddie Higgins.

"Everyone at Grow has pulled together and we are a little surprised but very happy to report a very successful year for the charity with the sale of fresh fruit and veg, alongside plants and the ever increasing popularity of recycled wooden nature homes, whether bird, bug or hedgehog."

To combat the loss of fundraising opportunities earlier in the year the Friends of GROW group (‘FroG’s) have been relentless in gathering an increasing audience of supporters since the summer, with successful events including a Ladies Day, Rock ‘n’ Roll bingo and a Horse racing evening and, latterly, the GROW Christmas Fayre. 

Anyone who wants to learn more about the redevelopment project or receive a guided tour of the vinery should contact Mr Higgins on 721865. Similarly, anyone who wants to donate funds towards the redevelopment can contact Mr Higgins.

Pictured top: GROW Manager Eddie Higgins and Director Marguerite Talmage.