From tiny vegetable plots to large leisure parks, community-managed projects are often created in response to a lack of available green space.
From tiny vegetable plots to large leisure parks, community-managed projects are often created in response to a lack of available green space.
UK residents have relied on community gardens as an important source of food for hundreds of years. During the Second World War, for example, community allotments were set up on inner-city sites to provide affordable fresh fruit and vegetables to the local area.
The contemporary community gardening movement began in the late 1960s with a renewed interest in green spaces in cities. Many community gardens were created when local residents transformed vacant sites into green spaces that included vegetable plots and flower gardens. As these spaces evolved, they were used to address social and health problems.
The gardens come in all shapes and sizes, according to Caroline Fernandez, the Local Food Project Coordinator of the Women's Environmental Network (WEN). "They can be tiny plots, gardens on roofs, school gardens, private or open to the public."
The scope of what community gardens can acheive also varies widely. They can provide fresh fruit and vegetables, a place for wildlife, improved play areas, an outdoor classroom and safe public spaces that are well-maintained. "What unites all of these green spaces," explains Ken Elkes of the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens, "is the fact that they are run by a management committee formed by local people, usually working on a voluntary basis."
The Women's Environmental Network (WEN) has been bringing minority women together to form community vegetable and herb gardens as part of the Taste of a Better Future Network for the last seven years. It recognises that such groups have little access to affordable healthy food, particularly traditional fruit and vegetable varieties, or to gardens of their own. WEN's community food growing initiatives encourage women to come out of their immediate family circles by gardening with other people. "Women are able to get out of the house, grow fresh food and learn new skills", says Fernandez.
Community gardens often bring different cultures and generations together, improving individual and community confidence and bridging the divide between ethnic, political and socio-economic groups. One success story is Bolney Court in Crawley, Surrey where residents turned an overgrown, littered space into a beautiful flower garden.
As part of the Let's Face It and the RHS South East in Bloom campaigns, volunteer residents were able to get the support they needed to clear up 3.7 tonnes of rubbish from the area.
One long-term resident of Bolney Court believes the garden has had a massive impact on the community. "I've lived here for ten years and I didn't really know anyone before we started the work, now we are all friends. We've created a type of village life where everyone looks out for each other." Once intimidated by gangs in the area, residents can now enjoy an attractive and secure environment.
Providing open space, a place to grow organic food, healing centres for people with mental and physical disabilities, as well as creating opportunities for recreation, exercise, therapy and education, community gardens are an immensely valuable resource to neighbourhoods across the country.
With more than a thousand communities taking part in RHS Britain in Bloom last year, Renee Dodds, PR & Promotions Executive of RHS Britain in Bloom & Neighbourhood Awards, has witnessed a growing interest in community greening intiatives. "The environmental benefits of community gardening are self-evident, but it's the benefits to the community as a whole that really makes it worthwhile."
If you don't have a garden of your own and want to get involved in your local community, try joining a neighbourhood greening project. See our map to find a project near you, or learn more about starting your own.
Community gardens are not protected by statutory law. Most are sited on what was previously derelict local authority land, paying for short or temporary leases, which makes them easy targets for developers. However, with green space in cities increasingly harder to find and issues such as sustainable development making the headlines, community gardening initiatives have an important, long-term role to play in this country.
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