Young families will be able to discover the joy of growing their own food when a children’s centre launches a gardening club.

Councillor Leon Reefe has given £750 to the Borehamwood and Elstree Children’s Centre for its community garden in Furzehill Road.

Claire Norris, who works at the centre, said the money would be used to buy tools, material to construct raised beds and ride-on toys that will be stored in the shed for the children to play with.

She said: “Our garden is a valuable resource for the parents and children from Borehamwood, Elstree and Shenley who use our centre.

“Many of the people who come here do not have their own gardens at home to play with, so we want to make more of it.

“We’re hoping the gardening club will help the children learn about where their food comes from and how to grow it."

Cllr Reefe, who represents Borehamwood North for Hertfordshire County Council, gave the money from his locality budget to the centre, which is funded by Sure Start.

He said: “Sure Start is such an important and integral part of the community, particularly for young families, and it is imperative that it receives every bit of support available.

“At this time, due to severe austerity measures, organisations like Sure Start are stretched financially and it is a responsibility that local councillors need to factor in when deciding where to allocate locality funding.

"It is for these reasons that I am happy to help this organisation with this funding.”

The club, which will start on February 26, will run between 3.30pm and 4.30pm. Anyone who wants to take part can turn up on the day.