Creating Bright and Beautiful Communities
Tuesday 4th of April 2023
.png)
Tpas and HACT invited tenants and housing staff to this practical workshop to explore how they can work together to create stunning, environmentally-friendly community gardens and allotments.
The session explored the simple steps tenants can take to transform patches of land of all shapes and sizes around their homes – boosting community pride, reducing social isolation, supporting local wildlife, and improving people’s mental health in the process.
We also looked at the role of landlords in empowering those who want to improve the appearance of their areas but often don’t know where to start, and how to engage the wider community in growing projects.
The workshop was led by Garden Organic, a national charity that helps people and communities grow their own fruit, vegetables and flowers in an environmentally friendly way.
Their expert gardeners have bags of experience in supporting groups of neighbours to plan and develop their own thriving community gardens and green spaces.
We also heard from former Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins, a regular on TV gardening shows, who shared his experience of engaging his local community in planting projects in the outdoor spaces near his housing association property.
Following on from this session, Garden Organic have answered some of the questions we didn't get time for.