Last year tenants at The Energise Centre in Salford revamped the courtyard space to create a community wellness garden, which has been a huge hit with the local community. Building on this success, the "Grow Together Gardening Group" spotted an opportunity to expand the garden and get even more people involved.
They wanted to take a patch of ground at the front of the centre and install some raised planters that would allow them to teach gardening skills, whilst promoting volunteering and keeping people active.
The aim was to grow vegetables on site which would then encourage people to eat healthily and potentially grow their own produce at home after learning skills through the gardening project.
In order to overhaul the patch of ground the group needed some funding, and MaST LIFTCo were kind enough to provide the group with £500 to help with the project. This funding was put to great use and the land was quickly cleared, raised beds installed and seeds planted (see before and after photos below). The first harvest of onions, potatoes and lettuce are proudly displayed in the photos below!
These photos show what a difference this has made to the centre.
The Energise Centre (a MaST LIFTCo building), run by The Big Life Group, delivers health and wellbeing activities to the local community to improve their physical health, mental health, combat loneliness and social isolation. The community gardening project is a great way to help them deliver their aims.
Find out more: www.thebiglifegroup.com/service/energise-centre