The hidden gems that are Community Gardens
Everywhere you look, people are doing good.
It is amazing what you discover when you delve into local communities. Hidden systems are revealed: people are creating their own ways of coping, normally with pressures that are largely outside of their control.
In the Northeast, our Enrich the Earth initiative has been contacted by an ever-growing number of Community Gardens. These vary in size, approach and ambition but are united by people wishing to create green spaces. Those involved share in both the upkeep and rewards.
There are Community Gardens across the UK operating as an informal network, driven largely by the needs of local communities and committed volunteers. Research by Gardening4Health has mapped 479 Community Gardens across the UK, but there are certainly many more.
These gardens offer a glimpse of an alternative way of working and living around food and the environment. This contributes to a more sustainable urban economy as well as a healthier, engaged society. Through activities like cooking, planting and harvesting, gardens allow for cross-cultural and intergenerational social interaction that can lead to positive change at a neighbourhood level - including building trust and shared values.
As environmental, health and social pressures increase, the role of Community Gardens is becoming increasingly important. Environmentally, they can act as education hubs; increasing awareness of the impact of climate change and biodiversity loss. They are green havens, reducing the impact of urban heating and act as centres for local food growing.
From a health perspective, research has revealed that time spent in nature is linked to a range of positive mental and physical health outcomes such as reduced blood pressure, less stress plus lower levels of cardiovascular and respiratory problems. Wellbeing benefits include reduced social isolation, increased happiness and greater personal resilience.
Through Enrich the Earth we have learned about the positive impact these gardens are delivering in their locality. We have discovered how effective they are at engaging with a wide cross-section of the community and have recognised that many gardens are achieving great things on limited resources. We have seen first-hand that those we are supporting are already benefitting from speaking to other groups in the area and we have demonstrated that we can significantly enhance the environmental sustainability of their approach by providing access to specialists such as those at Garden Organic.
Based on this insight, we wonder whether it might be viable to help this informal North East network to further build their activities. Our aim would be to secure more resources, helping them to increase their long-term viability. We suspect that this might be possible by:
Enabling community gardens to create a mutually self-supporting, grass-roots network - sharing experiences, resources and knowledge.
Giving community gardens easy access to relevant and diverse expertise.
Opening access to new financial resources from national funders and initiatives such as social prescribing.
Maximising their impact through stronger marketing and branding.
Helping them to demonstrate regional impact by collating the data they are collecting.
Offering the opportunity for community gardens to have a strong policy voice, promoting the importance of initiatives such as Hull’s Right to Grow which increases the space available for Community Gardens.
Over the coming months we will consult with Community Gardens in the region plus expert organisations to see whether this support might be helpful. If the response is positive, we will seek the resources that they require. If you would like to get involved, please contact trewin@sizzle.org.uk