SES Water partners with local charity to provide young disabled adults with a water efficient garden

26/05/22

SES Water’s work to help build a new water efficient garden and provide a positive learning opportunity to young disabled adults’ lives is underway in Surrey.

The water company has partnered with The Orpheus Centre in Godstone to design and build the garden, which will be filled with scented and edible plants, sculptures and water features to provide a visual opportunity for learning, as well as being a pleasant place to relax.

SES Water, which supplies drinking water to parts of Surrey, Kent and south London, is providing its expert knowledge along with funding and volunteers to help with the build during Water Saving Week.

To commemorate the upcoming Queen’s Jubilee celebrations the team has also planted a cherry tree on the site at the Centre for students to enjoy while they relax in the garden.

The Orpheus Centre is a specialist college and charity, working to support young disabled adults, who are passionate about the arts, to achieve their potential and aspire to lead independent and fulfilling lives. Orpheus is the only organisation offering personalised study, supported housing and personal care all on the same site.

SES Water’s CEO, Ian Cain, said: “We’re really excited to have started this journey with The Orpheus Centre and work on the garden is going well.

“We’ve got more than 60 of our colleagues signed up to donate their time and help with the build, which is fantastic to see.

“We are passionate about providing more than just water to our local community and this is one of the ways we’re able to do that.

“We’re making the garden as sustainable and water efficient as possible by using water butts and drought resistant plants.”

Dr Rachel Black, CEO for The Orpheus Centre, thanked SES Water for the hard work and dedication gone into bringing the garden to life.

She said: “We can’t thank SES Water enough for providing not only expert knowledge on water saving but also time to help build the garden.

“Our students are going to love it and already it’s created quite a buzz around the college.

“We’re looking forward to being able to open the garden and for the students to have a calming space to socialise and relax.”