A SANCTUARY Housing resident has proudly transformed his Warwickshire street into an oasis of flowers, fruit trees and vegetable,s with a helping hand from the national housing provider.

Dave Morris, aged 45, founder of Abbeyfields Community Club, has tirelessly spent the last three years improving the street and has overseen the entire renovation of his quiet road into a riot of colour for the benefit of his fellow neighbours in Red Hill Close, Mappleborough Green.

What started as just potting plants, sowing seeds and scattering vegetables, has flourished into a two-year community project, thanks to a generous donation from Sanctuary Housing’s Grand Ideas Fund.

The Grow, Eat & Look Nice project is exactly what it says on the tin. Donations have been turned into plants, compost and equipment, and the freshly grown produce is now feeding residents in and outside of Red Hill Close.

Mr Morris said: “I’ve got a little bit of a garden in front of my house where I used to plant flowers and I found I really enjoyed it and it went from there. The bright colours from my raised bed inspired me to tidy up the rest of the street and that’s where the larger project began.

“Thanks to donations from Sanctuary Housing and Warwickshire Rural Housing I was able to buy all the materials that I needed and the beds now contain everything from flowers to fruit bushes to vegetables. People in the local area now call us ‘the street of flowers’ and we are very proud of that.”

Future plans for the blossoming street are not stopping anytime soon. Mr Morris is now turning his sights to even bigger things from entering this year’s Heart of England in Bloom competition to investing in a polytunnel to grow flowers out of season for the street’s display.

Harj Lota, Sanctuary’s head of housing, said: “It’s fantastic that our donation from our Grand Ideas Fund was able to support him with his mission in turning his neighbourhood into the ‘street of flowers’.”

Abbeyfields Community Club is one of many community groups across England to benefit from the Sanctuary fund. Now in its third year, the fund offers up to £1,000 to groups that need financial support to help deliver activities within their community for the benefit of residents.

The Grand Ideas Fund is open for applications from charities, resident groups and voluntary organisations.

For more details, contact Sanctuary Housing Community Investment team on 01905 335 441 or email community@sanctuary-housing.co.uk.