Homebase and Eco-Schools growing together

What’s it all about?

Homebase launched a partnership with Keep Britain Tidy in 2010, supporting the Eco-Schools programme.

Homebase are helping schools to improve their ‘school grounds’ and learn about ‘healthy living’ - encouraging schools to use outside space to grow their own fruit and vegetables.

Homebase colleagues are able to apply for two paid days to support activity in their local community and the Eco-Schools programme is Homebase’s flagship volunteering programme.

Over 60 Homebase stores have been linked with a local primary school on the Eco-Schools programme and this will be rolled out nationally across every Homebase store by 2013.

How does it work?

Keep Britain Tidy identifies primary schools within a five mile radius of every participating Homebase store.

Homebase volunteers then visit their chosen school to share ideas on how to improve their school grounds and get healthy at the same time by growing their own fruit and vegetables.

The emphasis is very much on supporting and not doing and it is Homebase colleagues’ time, knowledge and enthusiasm that are the key to the programme’s success.

What other benefits are there?

Since the start of the partnership, over 400 schools have also benefited from a product donation from Homebase, including tomato plants, compost, seeds, herbs and strawberries.

The future

We aim to grow our partnership with Keep Britain Tidy and to help schools and children learn how to lead a more sustainable way of life through the Eco-Schools programme.

Ceri Wootton, community affairs and workplace manager for Home Retail Group, comments: “This is an exciting initiative for Homebase that provides our store colleagues with a unique opportunity to share their wealth of expertise in this area. Our involvement in this project reinforces our commitment to our employees and the communities in which we operate.

Andrew Suter, Eco-Schools programme manager said: "We are delighted to be working with Homebase. Their expertise and volunteering support will help Eco-Schools across the country to create bigger and more ambitious projects in their schools and we look forward to seeing the results."