Worcester Community Garden

We’re thrilled to have been awarded £10,000 from the national lottery community awards.

The funds will be used to build a floating pontoon to house a new tool storage area. This will protect much of the garden’s resources from the regular flooding experienced each winter.

We are extremely grateful to Keith Slater (pictured, centre) of Community Boost who worked with the community garden’s chair of trustees, Steve Dent, on the bid, providing his time, advice and expertise to help us secure this funding.

Keith himself said of the community garden “no doubt in my mind that this oasis of peace and tranquillity is a hidden jewel in the city and is a first rate example of the work that committed and dedicated volunteers can produce”.

Keith is now working with Steve to draft a bid for a further £5k grant. If successful, this funding will be used to build an office/meeting room that will sit in front of the tool storage area on the pontoon, together with a moveable access ramp.

We a held a ”thank you” barbecue on Sunday 31^st July to recognise the invaluable contribution made by  Worcester community garden’s wonderful group of regular volunteers and supporters.

Since our relaunch in January 2022 we have steadily built up a strong cohort of regular volunteers who give their time, hard work, skills, creativity and commitment freely. Their contributions have been crucial in maintaining and developing the community garden site.

We have also had wonderful off-site help us in areas like IT and website (Patrick), keg planters and metalwork (Dan) and events publicity (Anda).

Some of our invitees were unable to make it this year but there was still a good turnout, plenty of good food and lively conversation.

In June, we were delighted to appoint Mandy Neill as a Trustee to help us run the community garden. Mandy is a regular volunteer on Fridays and, amongst many other things is part of the team building our new vertical garden.

 

Hello, my name’s Mandy and I’m a new Trustee for the Worcester Community Garden (WCG). There are four of us altogether now (myself, Tony, Steve and Jon) and our aim is to run the WCG as an effective charity that operates for the good of others in line with the guidelines of the Charity Commission.

I was inspired to visit the Worcester Community Garden in January this year following the stress of two years COVID pandemic and a visit to the Ross-on-Wye Community Garden through my work.

I find working in my own garden very calming and firmly believe that being outdoors, close to nature is good for the soul.

I have found everyone at the Community Garden very friendly and relaxed and really appreciate the value of the place to bring together a wide range of people who all have one small thing in common – wanting to enjoy the unique setting of the garden.

I have enjoyed the practical work of getting jobs done, as well as learning about such a wide range of plants and how the community garden works.

I am proud to have found that I can also give back some of the knowledge,  experience and ideas that I have. As a trustee I would like to continue to build on this and help the Worcester Community Garden welcome more and more people who can benefit from its wide range of features.

I am hard working, organised and committed to all that I do.  I am enthusiastic and can offer a balanced combination of creative inspiration with systematic analysis.  For a long time I have been interested in the effect our surroundings have on our everyday lives and am motivated to enhance this experience for other people.

I am a Landscape Architect and work part time. I have worked for multidisciplinary private companies which require internal team working with colleagues such as architects, engineers, transport specialists and planners, as well as other natural environment professionals in ecology, arboriculture and environmental assessment. I have also worked for two local authorities, both in a design capacity and as a planning consultee.

Academically I have a degree and post graduate diploma in Landscape Architecture and also a masters degree in Environmental Resource Management. I am a chartered member of the Landscape Institute.

I have lived in Worcester for about 11 years. Living centrally allows for sustainable transport, particularly the train, cycling and walking. I joined the Friends of Gheluvelt Park almost straight away and was involved with helping at some events in the park and organising a group of volunteers to paint the roadside and pondside railings. Through the Friends group I also became a regular volunteer at the Worcester Show, acting as judges assistant, volunteer greeter and also a helper on the information stall.  In addition, I carried out a voluntary admin role for the Worcester Show, working 4 hours per week over 6 months in 2019. I am also always keen to support and attend events at my children’s school, North Worcester Primary Academy and their beaver colony at 5th Worcester Sea Scouts.