MP joins residents for celebratory lunch

Macclesfield MP David Rutley received a warm welcome recently after visiting Belong Macclesfield, one year after opening the village’s ‘raised bed’ project. During a celebratory luncheon with staff, volunteers and residents, David sampled the culinary delights of the village gardening club, boasting delicious fresh produce from the garden.
The raised bed, built by Food4Mac, a local charity that supports and promotes local communities to grow their own fruit and vegetables, has united green-fingered residents, encouraging them to spend time in the great outdoors and reignite their love for gardening. Under the expert guidance of Philip Shaw, also of Fork2Plate, the village holds a weekly gardening club where residents and members of the local community can enjoy maintaining their productive plot.
The afternoon began with a pre-lunch tour of the garden, where David had chance to meet volunteers preparing phase two of the project, which saw eight strawberry planters unveiled. Once fully grown, residents will enjoy harvesting fresh fruit from over 100 strawberry plants. The bed, which took 20 tonnes of soil to fill, is also home to a variety of fruit and vegetables as well as a selection of herbs.
David said: “It’s great to see how the beds have developed since I last opened the project a year ago. The staff and the volunteers from Food4Mac have done a fantastic job, and the residents really enjoy getting involved. Not only does the garden give residents the independence that comes with gardening, they get to see the journey from seed to plate which encourages a healthy lifestyle.”
General Manager at Belong Macclesfield, Janine Curwell, added: “The Belong ethos is very much about living with purpose, and enjoying an active and healthy lifestyle; this project has been a great example of that, and David’s visit really helped residents feel proud of the fruits of their gardening efforts.”
Belong Macclesfield opened in autumn 2007 and has expanded its support services over the past five years to create a vibrant village community that both goes out to support people in their own homes, and welcomes members of the public to take advantage of the village’s facilities and services.
To find out more about the weekly gardening club, contact the village on 01625 508 700