Residents Partner with Social Enterprise to Clean Up Jesmond Gardens

Jesmond Residents Association (JRA) has responded to the concern of messy front gardens in the area by teaming up with The Skill Mill, a social enterprise aimed at rehabilitating young offenders, to tidy up the mess.

The Tidy Gardens Scheme, launched last month, aims to maintaining and tending to rental gardens of Houses of Multiple Occupants (HMOs), which according to the chairman of JRA Tony Waterson, is “one of the biggest complaints for a long time” and gives “a very unsavoury appearance to the streets”.

JesmondLocal spoke to a young person on their last day under The Skill Mill’s wing, who said they gained “life skills and social skills” from the voluntary work.

Currently, only a few properties are under the Tidy Gardens Scheme. The scheme will hopefully expand - leading to more tidy gardens, and more work and new skills for young people.

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