Primary school pupils in Narberth have grown their own vegetables for Christmas with a little extra help from a local housing provider.

To help the children at Narberth CP School get more out of their allotment. Wales & West Housing (WWH) and its contractors, R. & M. Williams, supplied and set up a new shed for the pupils.

The donation was part of WWH’s community benefits scheme, where it works with its contractors and supplier to give back a percentage of their income to support local community projects.

School headteacher Nia Ward said: “We developed the allotment so the pupils could learn about healthy eating and where food comes from, and grow their own food. It has been really successful.

"The children have really enjoyed growing their own carrots, potatoes, cabbages and leeks, which they have used for their Christmas lunch and in school cooking sessions.

“We wanted to expand the project and to install a shed so that the children could get more out of their allotment experience. With school budgets being extremely tight, we were struggling to afford it.

“The help that Wales and West Housing and R.& M.Williams has given to the school is invaluable. The children are really looking forward to planting more food for the new year.

“Through the allotment project, they are learning life skills which will help set them up for the future and also meets the new Donaldson Curriculum to create healthy, confident, enterprising and ethically-informed individuals.”

In Narberth, R. & M. Williams is currently building four affordable homes for Wales & West Housing as part of a larger development at Maes Yr Orsaf.

When completed early in 2020, the four Wales & West Housing homes will be made available to local people in need of a home they can afford to rent.

WWH currently employs around 60 staff, who work from its office in Newcastle Emlyn. It also manages more than 1,500 homes in Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion,

Rhiannon Ling, WWH community development officer based in Newcastle Emlyn, said: “This is just one of the many examples of how we work with our contractors and suppliers to add value to our communities. Whenever we build new homes, employ contractors to carry out repairs on our homes or buy equipment for our schemes and offices, we ask our supplier to contribute to make a difference to those communities.”