Green-fingered helpers create Bognor Regis centre's garden

Nine volunteers from the Bognor Prince’s Trust Team programme used their brains and brawn to plan, organise and dig a vegetable and herb patch for new organisation the Phoenix Centre.

They also used their artistic flair to design and develop eye-catching canvases to be displayed within the centre.

Project co-ordinator Roy Newnham said: “This has been a great project for the team to get involved with.

“They have utilised their teamwork skills to support each other in achieving a fantastic new resource for their local community.

“The effort put in by the team has really paid off and they should be very proud of the end result.”

The team, aged 16 to 25, identified the Phoenix Centre as a new organisation which could really benefit from their hard work.

The centre is a new eco-friendly youth centre offering a wide range of services and activities for young people including young parents.

These include offering information and guidance on key issues such as careers, housing and how to achieve a healthy lifestyle as well as providing a safe environment for fun activities such as football, table tennis, art, dance, music making and recording and much more.

Having organised materials and equipment, the team set to work carefully measuring up the areas for the vegetable and herb patches before getting stuck in with long days of digging, raking and planting.

They also used their own initiative to build a compost heap from wooden pallets for future use by the centre.

In between all the hard work outdoors, the team also gathered materials and even used their own clothing to produce unique canvases to add to the modern interior of centre.

Stagecoach bus company also supported the team, providing them with free transport to get to and from the project.

The Prince’s Trust TEAM programme is a 12-week self-development course aimed at getting young people into either further education or employment.

The next programme is due to start on January 23, 2012. To join them or if you are in need of help with a community project, text TEAM to 07841 066846.