Page 58 - ALG Issue 3 2019

North West
Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire
Eden Gardens Allotments receives Queens Award for Voluntary Service
Until 2010 the site that became Eden Gardens was a children’s playground in the middle of a council estate, which eventually fell into disrepair. Bury MBC, the local authority, ceded the council estate to Contour Homes, a housing association. The play equipment was removed, and local residents offered various options – one of which was an allotment which was selected. For two years the site made little progress with only three or four plotholders working the site.
In 2012 more people took up the challenge and work started in earnest. A committee was formed which identified a number of aims and aspirations, first among which was
to develop the whole site. It is a small piece of land capable of holding only 17 oddly-shaped and sized plots and a number of raised beds. We knew that plot rental alone would not be enough to sustain the site so we decided to hold an Open Day which attracted 400 people, and provided much needed funds, some of which was donated to a local worthy cause. Together with the landowner, a communal cabin was acquired, boundary fences and gates erected, and a lease established. Finally, after much thought, the name Eden Gardens was chosen as a name.
Our next target was to make the site as fully accessible as possible for our many visitors. It took four years and
numerous grant applications, but
at the end full access was achieved for everyone including people with moderate to severe mobility problems.
We didn’t have a rule stating that plotholders should grow flowers,
but flowers began to appear. Then a beehive was established on a piece
of land designated as a meadow, and in 2016 we applied to enter the RHS Neighbourhood in Bloom competition and, to our amazement were award
an “Outstanding” certificate. We were told that to win this award in our first year was almost unheard of. In 2018 we received our third “Outstanding” award. Our annual Open Days continued as did our support for local causes, including Bury Street Pastors and the local church Summer Children’s Breakfast Club.
We work with local schools to arrange visits, and the nearby Children’s Centre included Eden Gardens in its summer programme. The last visit numbered 50 parents with children of all ages.
In 2018 we worked with the local education hub to bring children with challenging behaviour to Eden Gardens. They built bug hotels, planted seeds and bulbs and went away with a better understanding of how fruit and veg is produced.
In 2018 we heard that the ex-Mayor of Bury, Councillor Dorothy Gunther,
58 Allotment and Leisure Gardener