PUPILS at a Newport school are learning about food from the garden to the plate thanks to a little help from one of the city’s biggest employers.

Fourteen staff from the Intellectual Property Office on Cardiff Road raised funds from local businesses and got them to donate goods, then spent their free time creating a garden at Duffryn Junior School.

The IPO has links with the school through business in the community, takes part in literacy and numeracy events and has created a forest classroom there. On Friday, they created raised vegetable beds, and planted them with Swiss chard, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and blueberry bushes.

Head teacher Nigel Kelland said: “One of the teachers is creating a gardening club to maintain the garden, and the pupils will be learning about how to grow plants, where their food comes from and they will be cooking the produce. We are very grateful to the IPO staff.”

Kathryn Matson, IPO’s environmental manager, said: “We had great help from businesses like Homebase, Travis Perkinsand Newport council, who donated materials, Hobbycraft, who gave us items to raffle to raise funds, and carpentry firm Ian Williams who loaned us two carpenters for the day.”