Team Building Charity Day with The Wholesale Group

We were delighted to welcome The Wholesale Group to The Garden of Arden for a team‑building charity day that brought together colleagues from both their northern and southern teams. It was also wonderful to see familiar faces returning to the site where they had previously planted trees with us. Many took a moment to revisit the areas they helped establish and enjoyed seeing how much those trees have grown and the positive impact they are already having on the landscape.

This time, twenty attendees arrived ready for a new challenge and were split into four teams named Blue, Yellow, Red and White to match the colours of the themed garden spaces we are creating across the site. Their task for the day was to design and build their own mini show garden, bringing together creativity, teamwork and a shared passion for nature.

The morning began with each team building a bug and bee hotel using surplus materials, wood offcuts and natural items gathered from the surrounding area. Twigs, bark, logs, hollow bamboo stems, pinecones and other materials were carefully arranged to create inviting habitats for solitary bees, ladybirds, lacewings, beetles and other beneficial insects that play such an important role in supporting biodiversity. It was inspiring to watch each group think about the creatures that would use their structures and to see how much care went into making them both practical and imaginative.

The teams then worked together in the wildflower meadow to gather Yellow Rattle seed, collecting it at the perfect moment as the pods had begun to turn brown and rattle. Harvesting it now means we can reuse the seed on the butterfly bank, where it will help weaken coarse grasses and weeds and create the right conditions for a richer mix of wildflowers to thrive for pollinators.

We paused for a relaxed lunch under the shade of the outdoor gazebo, giving everyone a chance to rest, chat and enjoy the peaceful setting before the afternoon’s activities, with catering provided by our trusted local food supplier.

After lunch, the teams began creating their colour themed show gardens. Each group was given plants in their team colour and spent time researching the medicinal, ecological or biodiversity benefits of each species. They wrote their findings onto plant labels to sit beside the plants, turning the gardens into small learning spaces filled with useful information. The teams filled raised beds with peat free compost, planted their chosen species, added their labels and shaped their beds into thoughtful, characterful displays. These mini gardens will now be used by our community groups to learn about different plants, their uses and their wellbeing benefits, and they act as small scale versions of the larger gardens we will be creating across the site.

We’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Jess Douglas and Tom Gittins for organising the day, joining us once again, and bringing their ongoing enthusiasm, impact and incredible support. The Wholesale Groups’ commitment to helping us grow The Garden of Arden continues to make a real difference to the community space we are building.