A Chippenham group encouraging people to get back to nature has opened a community shed by the Lord’s Mead allotments.

The Nature Of It group was founded by scientist Leanne Taylor to encourage schoolchildren, and adults with additional needs, to grow their own food for therapy and education.

St Peter’s Primary School and the Tom Metcalfe Centre, based at St Peter’s Church, are already involved.

Their new shed is topped with a ‘living roof’ that they planted themselves. It was bought with £800 funding from the Borough Lands charity, which also paid for some wooden composters.

Mrs Taylor, 33, who lives near Redlands, worked until a couple of years ago in the pharmaceutical sector. She has three sons, two of whom have additional needs.

She said: “People seem to be losing touch with nature and the environment. Having had a childhood on allotments, without a car and escaping on adventures all day with my sister and friends, the natural world was part of my life. Today, many people have not grown up in this environment and I founded the organisation to allow as many people as possible to experience growing and caring for the environment to meet therapeutic and educational need.

“We organise nature trails, bushcraft and cooking with what has been grown.”