Transforming Gardens for Moat Customers at Knightswood Court

Moat customers at the Independent Living scheme in Southminster had their communal garden transformed by Morgan Sindall Property Services (MSPS) and Moat colleagues in partnership with Ideverde UK.

As part of MSPS’s and Moat’s continued social value work, both organisations came together to help clear a pond in the garden on Knightswood Court, an independent living scheme in Essex.

The pond used to be a focal point in the garden, and even had swans that had called it home. However, over the years the pond had become overgrown, so it was time to bring it back to its former glory and provide a space for customers to be able to relax and enjoy nature.

The day started with a safety briefing from Andy Robinson, from Idverde UK, who showed the group how to safely use the equipment and how to keep the disturbance to the environment and eco-system of the pond to a minimum.

The group then got to work trimming the trees to open up the view of the pond, and clearing the collected leaves, reeds and debris that had fallen into the pond to clear the water. In just one morning’s work, the transformation was huge, and the group will be back in February once the environment has settled to continue the work, with the target being to revive the island in the middle of the pond so it can be a home for swans and other wildlife once more.

Moat customers at Knightswood Court kept the group supported with regular cups of tea and rolls for lunch alongside cakes and biscuits brought along by several members of the group.

Mumtaz Samad, Head of Moat Foundation said: “We are so grateful to our colleagues at Morgan Sindall Property Services, Luke in particular, for organising the clearance of this very large pond at Knightswood Court. This project was identified a while back with customers, so it’s great to see some fantastic moment forward on this. Our customers are very excited at the prospect of having this wonderful pond area with lots of wildlife, including ducks, burst back into life.  It’s such a great environmental sustainability project supported by the wonderful colleagues in the MSPS Social Value team!”

Luke Culling, MSPS’s Social Value Officer, said: “It was brilliant to be able to transform the pond for the residents of Knightswood court, and a huge thank you to the teams from MSPS and Moat for coming along to help out. A special thanks to Andy for providing all the tools for the work, and the expertise. I look forward to continuing the work on the pond in February.”

The team are already looking forward to returning in February to continue the great work and create a vibrant garden space for our customers.