A SKILLED painter who has been trained by Care in the Garden will be helped further thanks to a £900 grant from Wight Aid.

Care in the Garden is a community interest company founded by partners John Goodenough and Gill Smith to provide access to work placements and training in horticulture to adults with learning disabilities on the IW.

The company has already helped Dan, one of their supported workers, to become a painter, and now they have used the Wight Aid grant to help him set up his own garden painting enterprise within the Care in the Garden project.

He will be helped on and off site by a Care in the Garden work buddy.

John said: "Needless to say, Dan is absolutely delighted that he has been given this opportunity and we will work with him to ensure his enterprise is a success.

"This also reinforces my belief that in the right work environment, those with special needs can become skilled workers.

"I have always seen Care in the Garden as the first step for some of our supported workers to move on into employment, or in Dan's case, an enterprise of their choice, using the skills they have acquired with us.

"We would like to thank Wight Aid for their continued support and generosity."

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