Ilfracombe nursery garden restored thanks to volunteers from major local employer

Volunteers from one of Ilfracombe’s biggest employers have been giving up their weekends so that children at a local nursery could enjoy the great outdoors again as summer approaches.

When staff at Cytiva Ilfracombe (formerly Pall Ilfracombe) heard that children at Oak Tree Nursery could no longer use their outdoor space due to damaged fencing and walls, they decided to step in and help.

During weekends in February and April, a team of 17 volunteers from the biotech firm worked together to repair the fencing, clear the undergrowth and make the retaining walls safe.

Cytiva operations director Ben Berridge said the company liked to help the community as so many of its staff lived in and around the town.

He said: “We put a call out across the community asking if anyone needed our help. We heard the nursery garden had been neglected over the past few years, particularly during Covid and the outdoor space had been closed as it was unsafe.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by how many of our associates wanted to volunteer to help and with many hands on this, we have been really proud of what we’ve been able to achieve.

“Thank you to RGB Ilfracombe for their help with supplies and Ocean Builds for volunteering to fix some water damage repairs inside the building.”

Stella Freebody is the manager of Oak Tree Nursery, on behalf of The Early Years Alliance and has been overwhelmed by the support from Cytiva.

She said: “We were delighted when Cytiva decided to support us as one of their community support causes. Due to storm damage and sea air eroding our current fence, we had to close the outside space as it wasn’t safe for our young children.

“We are a charity and so don’t have unlimited resources, so we have been truly overwhelmed by how amazing and quick the team have been in making the area safe with new fencing.

“Our outdoors space is a vital part of our provision and in summer we use this area every day to connect with nature. This helps children to develop curiosity, learn about the natural world and develop their language skills. Not everyone in Ilfracombe has a garden and so this really is a vital space for our nursery.

“I’ve been blown away by the support Cytiva have shown and our children will be so happy to have their outside space back.”

Built in 1978 on the old railway station, Cytiva Ilfracombe started with just 50 employees. Now employing more than 850, the firm manufactures filters that are used across the world in life-changing products for cancer and gene therapy as well as vaccines, food and drink products and electronics.