Local volunteers have been helping to provide a makeover for a wildlife-friendly garden at Monmouthshire County Council’s Usk headquarters.

Established last summer The Usk Community Garden provides a formal pollinator area to encourage insects, a home for nine beehives and a communal growing area for fruit and vegetables.

The garden is funded through the Welsh Government Nature Fund Pollinators for Life project.

The makeover last Monday, when twenty volunteers from AB InBev’s Magor Brewery put in a shift weeding and installing plants designed to attract bees and other pollinators, coincided with the previous day’s United Nations World Environment Day.

The plants were donated by AB Inbev and are listed as ‘Perfect for Pollinators’ by the Royal Horticultural Society.

Councillor Phil Hobson, Monmouthshire’s cabinet member with responsibility for sustainability said, “The council takes its responsibility for the environment very seriously and we have taken a number of steps to encourage pollinators including the roadside planting of wild flowers which has proved very popular as well as setting up our community garden.

“I’m very grateful for the wonderful work carried out by volunteers from one of Monmouthshire’s largest employers.”

Tony Monteiro, Brewery Manager at Magor Brewery added, “On World Environment Day, AB InBev colleagues celebrate bringing people together to have a greater impact on the environment and in the communities where we live and work.

“AB InBev is committed to embedding sustainability and social responsibility and we’re proud of our colleagues who helped to transform the garden.”

For more information on the Usk Community Garden contact Community Development Officer: [email protected].