PUPILS at Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham will benefit from a £10,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund to develop a community forest garden.

The forest garden will be placed on the site that was the old tennis court at the school, which staff and students have been hoping to develop for some time.

This is one of 37 projects around the North East to receive Big Lottery funding.

The forest garden grant comes as part of the Awards for All scheme, which helps support community activities that will benefit local people.

Thanks to the funding, pupils will now be able to take part in forest gardening after-school clubs and holiday events to help develop the site on their school, creating a garden area for the whole community.

Working in partnership with Groundwork North East and Hexham Youth Initiative, they plan to build and plant raised beds with fruiting shrubs and trees.

They will also create wild flower areas, develop the cairn at the centre of the garden into a barbecue pizza oven and put down a network of paths to guide visitors around.

While there is a lot of work to do, young people taking part will be spurred on by the opportunity to work towards a John Muir Conservation Award.

The project will kick-start with a holiday activity session – “Halloweeding” – which will take place on Friday, October 28 from 1pm to 4pm.