Posts Tagged ‘community garden’

Hats off to Lawn at the Lakes

Posted on 18th June 2012 by

Stroud Community Land Trust held a Victorian garden party to mark the completion of the Lake at the Lawns Community Spaces project.

Despite the weather, more than 400 people turned out for the event.

The site is the only remaining feature of a nine-bedroom Victorian country mansion and its grounds. Consisting of more than 300 trees, a stream, a network of footpaths and other historic features, its centrepiece is a small lake, which dates to the 12th century.

Stroud Community Land Trust has transformed what was a derelict patch of land into a valuable green space.

Stroud Community TV filmed at the launch, Coun Andy Read of Stroud CLT talks about the history of the site and outlines the restoration work that ahs been carried out.

Posted on 18th June 2012 by
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A special space for Swimbridge

Posted on 6th June 2012 by

A new garden has been created in the churchyard of St James Church, Swimbridge in North Devon. From an area long fenced off, Community Spaces funding has helped to create a special place for everyone to enjoy.
The official launch, conducted by Lady Arran, takes places on June 16 at 2.30pm.
The Streamside Garden is an informal, wildlife friendly, natural space beside a stream where views of the village, church and green valley and hills can be enjoyed to the sound of running water.
Adding to the garden’s mainly native planting and wildflower meadow area are links to the village heritage. These include a granite field roller with specially carved text, an antique plough once used in the parish and two Mazzard trees, a unique North Devon cherry once common in the parish.
Project leader David Netherway said: “It is great to see the long planned garden in use and to be able to welcome the community and everyone who has helped, to celebrate the achievement with us”
A leaflet has been produced to be launched at the event containing notes on history, background and lots of details about the garden project.
A mown grass path runs through part of the meadow, along which stepping stones will run. These have been carved with words of a poem written by village school children aged 9-11.
Taking inspiration from the garden and its setting and working with class teacher Naomi Jefferies they wrote a poem that would give each a word for their own stepping stone. Letter carver and sculptor Gabriel Hummerstone, who had carved the roller text, worked with fellow carver Jim Eveleigh to show the children how to design text and to carve letters into slate. Each child working with professional tools carved their own stone with their own word for the poem.
Gabriel said: “Each child in the class has managed to invest their whole personality into this permanent medium. They have each thought hard about the word in the poem that they most wanted to carve and come up with designs that express the character of the chosen word such as, ‘magical’, ‘whispering’, ‘rippling’.
“Each child has managed to convey this special character after minimal tuition in a highly technical and disciplined art. The result is a uniquely characterful and outstandingly unaffected and unselfconscious work of art.”

Naomi Jefferies said: “The Swimbridge Garden Project has been a fantastic learning experience for all of the children in Class 4. They have worked as a team to create a wonderfully descriptive poem that is comprised of words carefully chosen by the children to reflect their thoughts and feelings about the riverside garden.”
For more about St James Church, visit www.swimbridgeparishchurch.org

 

 

Posted on 6th June 2012 by
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Urban Oasis makes its debut

Posted on 18th April 2012 by

If you’re looking for some inspiration this weekend, why not take a trip to the Royal Horticultural Society’s Cardiff Show?

One of the highlights of this and other RHS shows throughout the summer will be the Urban Oasis garden, devised by the RHS and Groundwork and designed by landscape designer and broadcaster Chris Beardshaw.

Volunteers from Merthyr Tydfil will be rolling up their sleeves and helping to create the garden, which is sponsored by Marks & Spencer.

Inspired by Groundwork and RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood community green space projects across South Wales, the garden features a number of Welsh natural habitats and will illustrate how good quality landscape design can transform neglected green spaces for community benefit.

It will also contain an environmentally-conscious display, a weather station and bat boxes. After the show, the garden will be recreated at the Fedw Hir Eco-Centre at Llwydcoed, near Aberdare, home of Groundwork Merthyr & Rhondda Cynon Taff and an environmental education centre. It will be used as a learning resource for local schools.

Many of the volunteers are long term unemployed. One of them, Paul Bryce, aged 28, of Pentrebach, said: “Working at the Horticultural Learning Zone has opened a lot doors for me. I feel taking part in something like this creates a real ripple effect, as I can pass on things I’ve learned. I’m now teaching my son how to grow tomatoes!

“It’s a massive honour and a privilege to be helping to build the garden at RHS Show Cardiff. It’s overwhelming that someone like Chris Beardshaw not only took the time to visit us but also liked our work so much he wanted to incorporate it into his show garden. It feels great to be part of a team that started with nothing to have our potential recognised.”

Chris Beardshaw, who visited the HLZ and other projects earlier this year added: “The green space around us – where we live and work – has a fundamental effect on our emotions and behaviour. It is well documented that in areas where these spaces are neglected and poorly designed we see strong evidence of social unrest and it is easy to see why when you stand in these spaces yourself.

“Whatever the green need there is a solution and contrary to popular belief it doesn’t have to mean high cost – the Urban Oasis Gardens showcase design solutions which can make such a difference in people’s lives.”

The RHS helps over 100 communities and gardening groups in Wales. To find out more, visit the Wales in Bloom team at RHS Show Cardiff. To read about RHS work in the community, including how schemes like RHS Britain in Bloom and It’s Your Neighbourhood have helped transform communities, visit the Britain in Bloom website

National Gardening Week, from April 14-22, is a chance for the RHS to share its wealth of knowledge with every gardener across the nation.

Posted on 18th April 2012 by
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Singing for joy in Mytholmroyd

Posted on 4th November 2011 by


A corner of Yorkshire has its own junior version of the Three Choirs Festival thanks to the team behind a Community Spaces project.

Royd Regeneration, which secured a CS grant to renovate a memorial garden in Mytholmroyd, has been using its additional Sustainability Grant to hold events in the new garden.

mytholmroyd choirThe latest was held to unveil the restored statue of a soldier on the village war memorial. Children from three local primary schools came together to sing at the event and they proved such a hit that the choir is being brought back to sing at the forthcoming Remembrance Day service on November 13 as well as carol concerts in December and a “Wake up the Garden” event planned for next March.

Jade Smith of Royd Regeneration says: “The children were absolutely marvellous. They were fascinated by the history of the war memorial as almost all the 132 men named on it were from their schools and some of them were related.”

The war memorial was originally unveiled in 1922 by local First World War veteran Gilbert Hartley. It was vandalised in 1992 and the head was stolen. A replacement proved universally unpopular with villagers, says Jade.

Once the memorial garden was built, local campaigners set about finding a new head for their statue. They commissioned West Riding Stone Carvers to make a fresh replacement, which was unveiled at the latest event by Gilbert Hartley’s daughter Barbara Jeffrey, accompanied by her great-grandchildren.

Work on the statue was funded by private donations, street collections and a grant from Calderdale Council.

Jade adds: “We had the new head in place and covered with a sheet for three weeks before it was officially launched and I am delighted to say that our local youngsters respected the site and left it well alone until the unveiling.”

Posted on 4th November 2011 by
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Sustaining the interest

Posted on 12th October 2011 by

martin proffittMartin Proffitt was the facilitator for the Byker Garden project in Newcastle, which completed last month.
Here, he outlines some of the imaginative plans from the group behind the Garden and how mambers plan to use their Sustainability Grant 

“I was really impressed from the beginning as to how the group behind this project ran with the seemingly impossible task of developing the project further and gaining support and momentum from all as they did so.

Now that the main project is complete on the ground comes the real test in sustaining support and involvement of local people in its long-term development.

I recently received their sustainability grant application form and they have some great, innovative ideas which should really help push their project forward into the arms of the local community.

The working group behind the sustainability grant development have really embraced the need to involve all sections of the local community.

To give you a flavour, they will be engaging with local schools, residents and other groups in a range of activities which involve activities such as… deep breath… practical gardening and food growing sessions, wildlife education sessions hands-on with bird and bat box making, mixing history and wildlife with art, using food produced in the garden for pizza making (using an outside oven!), creating colourful planters and window boxes to take home, BBQ days, local talent show and events, summer workshops, poetry and music, seed collection, storage and use, decoration making workshops, apple celebration days… nearly finished!… Hallowe’en celebration, mini-beast hotel making, art workshops in the garden – being inspired by the plants and colour around them, tree day – tying in with the history of the tree and picnics.

Phew!

The group is also applying for an extensive list of tools to ensure they are able to carry out the maintenance of the newly improved area.”

Plenty of  ideas – and hopefully some inspiration there. Please share your plans for sustainability… you might just inspire like-minded groups up and down the country.

Posted on 12th October 2011 by
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Posted in Garden, Information, North East, Project Management | 2 Comments »

Living churchyard

Posted on 20th July 2011 by
The Williams family plant a mini "Garden of Eden"

The Williams family plant a mini "Garden of Eden"

Schools and community groups joined to mark the culmination of four years’ work to revitalise Holy Trinity churchyard in Heath Town, Wolverhampton, made possible through a £49,984 Community Spaces grant.

The Bishop of Wolverhampton, the Rt Rev Clive Gregory, opened the new community garden and meadow area in the churchyard, which features a clay tile art installation with tiles designed and made by children from four local schools.

The Rev David Vestergaard, Vicar of Holy Trinity and member of the Holy Trinity Churchyard Project Group, said: “People are really impressed with the project, which will have a big impact on the local community. We look forward to many more people coming into the churchyard and getting involved over the years to come.”

The project also received a grant of £84,000 from Natural England’s Access to Nature programme to create the wildflower meadow.

For more on the church and churchyard, go to www.htht.org.uk

Posted on 20th July 2011 by
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Garden tribute

Posted on 15th July 2011 by

High Royd Memorial Garden

Derek Hutchinson, chair of the Friends of High Royds Memorial Garden, and Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental health charity MIND, cut the ribbon to mark the completion of a £45,000 project to renovate a former paupers’ cemetery.

The Friends have used their Community Spaces grant to restore a 1.5-acre site, originally part of the High Royds Psychiatric Hospital at Ilkley, West Yorkshire.

The site had been derelict and abandoned since 1959 and has been described in newspaper articles as a “disgrace to the area”.

It now features improved pathways, seating, planted areas and wildlife habitats. Verges, hedgerows and a small copse of trees at the edge of the site have also been tidied up.

The Friends say they want the Community Garden to be a dignified and fitting memorial to the former patients and some babies who are buried there.

Pupils from a neighbouring secondary school have helped to clear the site and will continue to be involved in its upkeep.

Around 150 people attended the opening event, which raised further funds and attracted offers of practical help.

Posted on 15th July 2011 by
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Emerald Centre’s Shiny New Community Garden

Posted on 1st June 2011 by
Volunteers

Local volunteers stand proud under the new pergola

A deprived neighbourhood of Leicester has finally had its dreams come true with the opening of a new community garden in the heart of the community.

Members of theThe Emerald Centre, which is the hub of local community activity in Humberstone, Leicester have been working tirelessly to bring the garden to life.

Months of hard work and labour were finally rewarded with a Community Spaces grant of over£33k for the project and this weekend saw the official opening of the completed garden.

A special thanks must go to the small army of local volunteers who mucked in wherever they could to get the project complete – from turf laying to planting shrubs and tidying up. The project has really helped bring the local community together.

Posted on 1st June 2011 by
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Mayor of London launches Community Spaces project

Posted on 8th March 2011 by

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, officially opens Winter Garden

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was one of the special guests that was on hand to launch a new Winter Garden recently completed by the Friends of Battersea Park.

The garden, which secured almost £50k from the Community Spaces programme, has been a dream come true for the Friends group – who have worked with award-winning landscape architect, Dan Pearson, to create the space.

The group wanted to invite people into the park through the cold winter months. In order to achieve this, a neglected space in the park has been transformed into a garden filled with shrubs, plants and trees that will bring both colour and scent to the space from November through to March.

Friends of Battersea Park Chairman, Frances Radcliffe, said: “A neglected area in the park has been transformed into a brilliantly designed 21st century garden.

“It has involved the community in the restoration of an open space which plays an important part in their lives and is available to everyone.”

More information can be found at the Battersea Park website, see: http://www.batterseapark.org/html/aboutus.html

Posted on 8th March 2011 by
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Northwood Mums support green spaces

Posted on 29th April 2010 by

Some of the green space that will soon be transformed into a community garden

A neglected and abused patch of land in Northwood, will soon be transformed into a vibrant community garden thanks to the Northwood Mums in Kirkby and a little funding from Community Spaces.

The project has been driven by the Mums group who have already transformed a nearby patch of land into a community allotment.

Working with the Northwood Green Streets project, the community garden will be a welcome addition to making the area a greener and cleaner space to live.

You can find out more about the project and see the site plans by visiting the groups blog, see: http://northwoodgreenstreets.blogspot.com/

We’re really looking forward to seeing the project develop and wish the Mums the very best of luck!

Posted on 29th April 2010 by
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