Traineeship leads to permanent role at North Tyneside community garden

A young trainee has been offered a permanent role after completing a six-month placement at a North Tyneside community garden.

TJ Ferguson, who is 23 and lives in North Shields, has been appointed as Community Garden Assistant at Meadow Well Connected.

His new role involves gardening, horticulture and landscaping projects in Meadow Well Connected’s 5.5-acre community garden. He also supports adults with additional needs to use the garden and works with pupils from local schools who have additional needs or are disengaged from mainstream education.

“TJ fitted in well with the garden team from the outset. He’s a hard worker and is keen to get involved with work that helps the environment and supports his local community. We created this new role to ensure we could continue to employ TJ beyond the end of his Kickstart placement as he’d made such a valuable contribution to our community garden,” said Mandi Cresswell, Chief Officer, Meadow Well Connected.

“I really enjoyed my placement in the garden at Meadow Well Connected. I’ve been given chances to learn new skills, increase in confidence and work alongside lots of different people. I’m really happy that I’ve been able to continue to work here as every day is different but always fun and rewarding,” said TJ Ferguson, Community Garden Assistant.

Meadow Well Connected is one of 14 voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations in the North East which were awarded funding from the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)’s Local Growth Fund VCSE Capital Grant programme, which aims to help communities across the North East recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funding was used towards the regeneration of the community garden and to help provide training for young people in landscaping, biodiversity and horticulture.

TJ’s training took the form of a six-month Kickstart placement – part of a government scheme to support 16 to 24 year olds into work.

Helen Golightly OBE, Chief Executive of the North East LEP, said: “The aim of this funding is to support VCSE organisations in creating stronger, greener communities and helping to give people the skills they need to reach their full potential.

“TJ starting a new career and becoming part of a valuable hub like Meadow Well Connected is a brilliant example of what local communities and VCSE organisations are achieving across our region.”

Find out about other projects funded by the Local Growth Fund VCSE Capital Grant programme here.