Page 66 - ALG Issue 3 2019

Eastern
Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Essex, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire
REPRESENTATIVE
Mr Ray How
5 Dalys Road, Rochford, Essex SS4 1RA
07720 719224 ray.how@btopenworld.com
MENTOR
Carol Andrew
Eastern
0845 250 0512 cjandrew.nas@gmail.com
Duchess Grove great clean-up day
Our Association (the DGAA) has been running for 2 years now on a site that's been around for 6 years. We've got a really strong sense of community and recently managed to obtain funding from our local parish council and the Milton Keynes Community Foundations for several projects:
• Installacommunalgreenhouseand shed with tools for sharing
• Buildupacommunitycompostheap
• Createaseedswapschemeand
welcome packs for new members
• Setupawebsite(www.bit.ly/thedgaa)
• Buildrainwaterharvestingtowers
(a wooden structure with 2 water butts and a sloping roof) to reduce environment impact and make watering easier
• Host4communityopendays,site clean ups and social events
On Saturday 30th March we had a great start to the season with our clean-up day and BBQ! With most plotholders present, and new plotholders joining the effort, it was a great way to prep for the season and meet new friends! We hired a large skip onsite, which was full to bursting point by the end of the day, keeping the site safe (plenty of old glass and metal) and ready for a successful growing season. People commented that it was helpful having a skip onsite as not everyone can make it to the
local recycling centre due to not having a car, or not being physically able to move items. This is a great example
of how our allotment community pulls together to help each other.
Since then we've got our website running, the communal greenhouse and compost heap will be built and
the end of May sees our second open day, inviting local residents to see what happens on site, how to get an allotment, the benefits of allotmenting, and to share in some food from the site. We're grateful to the NSALG for the valuable benefits offered. We use the Kings Seeds discount, our new shed and greenhouse (from Norfolk Greenhouses on NSALG rates) can
...we had a great start to the season with our clean-up day and BBQ!
be insured with Shield Insurance
and so on. Here's to more successful project delivery throughout the year! We encourage other associations to
go and find sources of funding. Ward councillors, parish councils and other community supporters are keen to see associations thrive and grow. For our projects, we're proud to say this work has been supported by funding from MK Community Foundation and Walton Community Council.
Adam Chapman-Ballard, Chairman www.bit.ly/thedgaa
66 Allotment and Leisure Gardener