Earth-movers and skips have swung into action at Milnathort & Kinross Allotments Association’s grounds to fulfill Binn Group’s commitment in their first ever Community Charity Clean-Up Competition.
The Association beat off stiff competition to secure the inaugural prize package – worth up to £2,000 – which saw equipment and manpower donated to clear vegetation and rubble from their three-acre site at the rear of Dobbie’s Garden Centre at Kinross. This will allow the charity to progress their plans for an extended community garden featuring a new sensory garden, a forest garden, raised beds for training workshops and a community orchard.
Scotland’s leading independent recycling and waste management company provided the equipment and manpower to clear a 100 square metre area of around 63 tons of material.
Binn Group’s special projects manager Donald MacDonald explained that planning meetings on site with Association members determined exactly what was required. “The group was full of great ideas but was being stymied in its efforts to progress because of the amount of waste at the site,” he said. “The key thing was to give them a blank canvas to work with by removing all waste materials and that’s all in a day’s work for Binn Group.
“Using a JCB and two skip lorries, we were able to transfer nine loads of rubble and other waste to our complex at Glenfarg for processing and recycling,” he added. “Removing this then allowed us to break up and level out the quality soil remaining across the site. “The Allotments Association was a worthy winner of the Binn Group Charity Community Clean-Up Competition and we were all delighted to help drive the project onto its next phase. It was very rewarding for everyone involved in the project – both managers and operatives – and we look forward to seeing the gardens flourish later this year.”
Delighted Association chairman Sid Grant praised the generosity and efficiency of Binn Group, explaining that their prize had “catapulted” the community project forward.
We would have taken forever and a day to achieve what they have done for us,” he said. “We can’t thank them enough. Everyone involved from Binn Group was so enthused and engaged with what the Association is trying to achieve for the local community and they were a great source of help and advice.
“Having the site for our expanded project cleared has reinvigorated the group and provided the momentum to reach our goal,” added Sid. “Everything seems more easily achievable now that the site is prepared. ‘Hopefully we can have blooms flourishing on the former wasteland this summer and Binn Group will be the first to get an invitation to see the fruits of all our labours.”