Team Building Day with Millboard
Millboard, a leading UK manufacturer of premium outdoor flooring and decking, reached out to us in search of a local charity whose work aligned with their company passion to Live. Life. Outside. Their commitment to helping people enjoy outdoor spaces resonated deeply with our own mission to provide nature‑based activities that support wellbeing, learning and connection. It was the perfect match, and together we created a day that brought creativity and teamwork in the great outdoors at The Garden of Arden in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The event brought together colleagues from across Millboard, with teams from both their manufacturing site and HQ, all led by their Head of HR, Bekkie England. Before getting stuck into the creative tasks of the day, everyone took part in an impact quiz and a get‑to‑know‑you icebreaker challenge, setting the tone for a relaxed and collaborative atmosphere.
The main activity centred around creating medicinal gardens in stainless steel raised bed planters. Working in three teams, each group layered their planter with cardboard to suppress the grass, followed by logs to line the base, garden waste to build structure and finally fresh peat‑free compost. Once the foundations were in place, the teams designed their garden layouts, arranged their plants in formation and learned about the medicinal properties of each species. These details were written onto plant labels and placed beside the plants before everything was carefully planted according to their design plans. The result was three beautiful show gardens that will be used by our community groups to learn about plant uses, wellbeing benefits and the importance of nurturing living spaces.
Next was lunch, a well earned break to enjoy sandwiches, soup and salad from one of our local food suppliers, Kusina Kitchen.
The teams then turned their attention to creating bug and bee hotels using sustainable materials collected from our garden projects. They also foraged for natural items around the site to build habitats for solitary bees, ladybirds, lacewings, beetles and other beneficial insects that will soon inhabit the hotels. Each finished structure was placed within their gardens, adding character and supporting biodiversity.
The day was filled with sunshine, teamwork and genuine enthusiasm from everyone involved. These gardens will now contribute to the education and healing of our community groups, offering spaces to get outdoors, improve mental health and wellbeing, learn about plants, maintain the beds and help the gardens grow into thriving medicinal resources.
Our thanks go to Bekkie England for organising this successful event with us, and to all of her wonderful Millboard colleagues who joined us. Their creativity, kindness and hard work have left a lasting impact on our charity and the community space we continue to build.
“It was a fabulous event. We had a great bunch of participants who were fully engaged with the activities and really enjoyed creating the gardens and bug hotels. The event was well paced, relaxed but purposeful, catered to all abilities and a fun way for employees to spend time together with colleagues they don't usually work alongside day to day”