Thanks to a grant from British Science Week, Reach recently launched our Soil Science project, making science more accessible to people with learning disabilities. The project saw clients taking part in scientific activities at Flower Pod Southwell and Flower Pod Newark to better understand soil ecology and composting.

Expert staff recently led two short courses at both centres focusing on the lifecycle and storage of compost, which included conducting experiments to explore ways to improve the compost quality.

Christine Daniels, Flower Pod Newark Centre Manager, stated: “Compost is what helps keep our flowers, trees and produce growing – that’s why it’s important to learn how we can be better stewards in our gardens. It was fantastic teaching clients to use compost thermometers, check soil pH levels and conduct micro-experiments in jars.”

Flower Pod Southwell Centre Manager, Jane Hufton, said: “The learner celebration event was wonderful – it was a great opportunity to reflect on what everyone had learned during British Science Week and to enhance clients’ confidence about taking part in science in the future.”

Find out more about Flower Pod at www.reachuk.org/services/flower-pod/ or call 01636 918271.