A GROUP of reporters from The Gazette swapped notebooks for gardening gloves when they volunteered to help a Basingstoke charity.

The team spent the day at Inspero’s community garden in Pack Lane, Kempshott, planting hanging baskets, cutting hedges and painting.

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The charity promotes healthy eating and living through its fun-filled growing and cooking programmes, working with both young people including children with special needs and older people, teaching them to have a better understanding about food and have a positive attitude to healthy food choices.

Reporters Emily Roberts, Kiran Sajan and Christopher Atkinson chose to support Inspero after the Gazette’s owners Newsquest announced a new local volunteering initiative whereby staff are given one paid day off each year to help with volunteering projects in their area.

Henry Faure Walker, the company’s chief executive, said of the initiative which launched this year: “It fits very well with our core purpose of ‘empowering our communities to thrive’.”

The trio from The Gazette got their hands dirty helping with gardening jobs and also chatting to other volunteers who support the charity every week.

Inspero, which has been awarded by the Royal Horticultural Society for its community garden in Kempshott, uses the space to grow different types of food including vegetables, herbs and fruit, with everything grown organically.

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The charity also responded to the Covid-19 pandemic, launching a community food hub at Kempshott Village Hall, stocked with items donated from local supermarkets and produce from its own garden to support those in need.

The team from the Gazette spent the day with Inspero during Basingstoke’s Green Week – an annual event organised by local community groups and supported by the borough council to showcase all the good work going on in the borough.

Emily, senior reporter at The Gazette, said it was rewarding supporting such an important charity in the town.

She added: “We all had a very enjoyable day under the expert guidance of Fiona Lyon who showed us what to do. I also learned a few things which I’ll be able to take away and use in my own garden.

“It was extremely rewarding supporting a local charity and finding out more about the amazing work it is doing in the community in which I live and work.

“All the volunteers were so welcoming and friendly. They are doing an amazing job and have created such a beautiful haven in our town for everyone to enjoy. The benefits of spending time outside enjoying nature are well-known and Inspero is providing a space for everyone to benefit from this.”

The 38-year-old added: “I’m really grateful to Newsquest for allowing us to take time out from our busy job to support the people in our community who are working hard to make our town a better place, and to spend time outside enjoying nature. Even if my arms were aching the next day!”