Throughout the pandemic the University sited an outdoor Covid testing centre on Streatham Campus and now that this centre has been disbanded, the Covid Testing Centre Manager, Deborah Custance-Baker, contacted the Grounds Team and kindly offered two of the testing sheds to be re-housed.
Deborah said “During the pandemic, the Covid Rapid Response Team took over the Sports Hall and ran a drive-through testing centre at Car Park B, which we used the sheds for. The testing officially ended at the end of early June 2022. We had found it difficult to rehome equipment from the the project as there was such a mass of it all. Now Covid is coming to and end, it is great to find a benefit of these sheds for the local communities”.
Our Horticultural and Operations Manager, Anthony Cockell, made some enquiries within the local communities and found two new homes for these sheds – Exeter St Thomas Community Garden and the Refugee Support Devon Community Allotment.
Anthony, along with two members of the Grounds Team – Sam Whitehorne and Leo Brooke, used their University annual volunteering community day to work together and deliver these sheds to their new horticultural homes.
This is a great sustainable and community initiative and we are delighted to be able to support these local communities.
The pandemic highlighted the importance of outdoor space, the benefits of nature and gardening and how it increases wellbeing and mental and physical health. So it seems fitting that equipment used for the pandemic can now be used for community allotments and gardens.
Thank you to everyone involved with this project; your generosity and hard work will benefit many!
