Pakenham Rotary Club members Laurie Hudgson, left, and Ian Wake are busy at work revamping the EW Tipping respite house’s backyard.
By Sarah Schwager
PAKENHAM’S own backyard blitz is happening at the EW Tipping respite house, with Rotary Club members working hard to get the yard into shape.
It is just three months away from completion.
The work began about a year ago after the house was opened in February, last year.
Since then, volunteers from the Pakenham Rotary Club have been busy mulching, raking, hosing and planting to provide a space of refuge for the house’s residents.
Pakenham Rotary Club member Laurie Hudgson said the backyard had been a big job, with 430 square metres of turf laid, a new pergola, vegetable garden plus dozens of plants and trees.
“People have been coming down one day a week for the last year volunteering their time,” Mr Hudgson said.
The crew has also installed a sprinkler system and plans to put creepers over the pergola, vegetables in the garden, and gravel and terracotta tiles around the flowerbeds.
The foundation has already hired a garden maintenance controller to keep the lawn mowed and the garden maintained.
“The worst part about the job is the mud,” Mr Hudgson said.
“The good thing is the ladies in the house supply us with morning tea.”
The EW Tipping Foundation provides services for and advocates on behalf of people with a disability.
The respite house works as an outreach service for people with a disability as part of a short or longterm plan for independent living.
