Staff at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Bridgwater used the vouchers they were presented by SWAP to buy the greenhouse from Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre at Monkton Heathfield. The greenhouse was sold at a special reduced price and erected free of charge by the garden centre on Tuesday, February 9.

Chris Hawkins, Patio Manager at the award-winning, family-run garden centre, which is located between Bridgwater and Taunton, said: “We were delighted to provide St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School with a greenhouse for their garden.

“The school was awarded first place in SWAP’s ‘Dig it, Grow it, Cook it, Eat it!’ contest. Pupils from Year Three filled a beautiful scrapbook with lots of pictures of the vegetables they grew and created an exciting menu that the youngsters helped to cook and eat.

“They won £200 of gardening vouchers from the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) and asked us if we could provide them with a greenhouse for their garden. We were more than happy to lend a hand and were able to offer the greenhouse at a reduced price and erect it free of charge.”

The garden centre also provided the school with two-tier staging worth £54.99 and one-tier staging worth £39.99, which are freestanding benches for plants, a rain kit worth £7.99, a louver window worth £29.99 and a self-watering system worth £69.99 for free.

SWAP is comprised of a team of dedicated officers who offer free visits to schools and community groups to promote waste minimisation, recycling and composting.

Fifty schools from across Somerset entered the ‘Dig it, Grow it, Cook it, Eat it!’ competition. Each school received one tonne of Revive Compost Conditioner from recycling management company Viridor and six packets of seasonal vegetable seeds.

They were required to keep a diary recording their progress and prizes were awarded for the most imaginative developments.

Jane Bazire, Classroom Assistant at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, said: “We are delighted to have been announced as winners of SWAP’s competition.

“The school’s old greenhouse collapsed, so we would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre for supplying us with a new greenhouse. We look forward to using it for lots of exciting Grow Your Own projects we have planned for 2010.

“We grow all sorts of vegetables at the school, including carrots, onions, runner beans, beetroot, potatoes and sweetcorn and even sell the surplus produce at school fayres.”

For more information, please drop in to Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre, which is located just off the A38 at Monkton Heathfield between Bridgwater and Taunton, or call 01823 412381.

Photograph caption: (Front) Pupils from St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School celebrate receiving a greenhouse from Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre with (back from left to right) Governor of St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, PC Richard Tully, Classroom Assistant at the school, Jane Bazire and Patio Manager at Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre, Chris Hawkins.