PLANS to create the Good Life in a special needs school are one step closer, thanks to the Echo.

Students at Castledon School, Wickford, are now taking advantage of £4,000 from the Gannett Foundation, the Echo's parent company, to build an orchard, vegetable plot and greenhouses.

Echo editor Martin McNeill handed the cheque over to keen students and staff at the school in Bromfords Drive.

Judges picked the project because they believed it was a worthy cause.

Deputy headteacher at the school, Philippa Walker, said: "This is brilliant."

Published Monday, December 5, 2005