As you know I’ve been counting down to September the 7th for a while, It always has been and now always will be a significant date in the diary of the Grow your own project. I am of course talking about clearing the project site so that all of the work can begin.

At 9.30 am on a very hot September day 25 brand new Mars UK graduates were sent to us to help clear the site. The bus dropped off some very tired, slightly hungover but very willing and eager helpers.

By 10.00 am they were all signed in and well into the safety briefing, there eagerness grew with the sight of the big sharp tools they were getting to use throughout the day and finding out why the project started in the first place and gave them a background on the history of it all and my vision for the project.

We split them up and set them to work, now Il have to admit I didn’t really expect a lot from them, not just because of the hangovers but because of the fact they hadn’t actually volunteered to help but it’s part of their Mars induction. But 10 minuets into it you could see that they really wanted to get stuck in and get the site cleared and shared the same passion that I have for this.

They had to dig out all of the tree stumps after they had cut them down, battle through brambles and thorns while dodging boulders and broken bottles. It was 25 degrees for about 5 of the 7 hours they were working and they didn’t stop once apart from lunch and water breaks. They worked hard but smiled and joked the whole way through.

I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to help clear the site, you can always get people to help with what ever you are doing but work ethic is something that the person must bring with them and each one of them brought it in boatloads!!

The original site before we started was 175ft x 70ft but once they had hacked, cut and sawn their way through the trees and brambles the new site now measures 190ft x 95ft. Now this may not sound like a lot but if you saw what they had to clear then you would understand that this was no mean feat.

I just want to take this opportunity to thank the 25 Mars graduates and Mars for a donation of £2,000, The ground team who oversaw the whole day and supplied all the equipment there expertise and knowledge on the day we’re priceless.

The Melton building society who have made a £3,500 donations from their “Kickstart Fund” this has really helped get the project rolling, The Melton Times and The Leicester Mercury for coming down and reporting this and getting our name and vision out there.
To Ben who has photographed the whole day and captured all of the hard work that went into making the day amazing. To Emma, Donna and Ramen from Melton Borough council who have put so much hard work into this ensuring that all of this can happen.
Dan Broad who offered one evening of his time but has now become as invested as I have And of course my wife for putting up with me and the extra work I’ve taken on.

The hard work has just begun and we are on a real journey now, I want you to share that with me so please get in touch if you want to help or donate in anyway that you can.