AN UNDERUSED courtyard in an Evesham community centre has been turned into a vibrant green space that grows fruits and vegetables for its users.
The new community garden at Wallace House opened last Thursday in Oat Street thanks to a collaborative effort by a range of volunteers, community groups and a local garden centre.
The philosophy behind the project was to create a community garden in its truest sense – built by the community for the community Wallace House manager Sian Purton explained.
It will serve as a vital outdoor extension that compliments community centre’s warm and welcoming ethos, giving residents who want to learn about and enjoy gardening.
“With funding for charity projects reducing massively, supermarket food surplus is not always guaranteed, and with our community’s needs going up, I knew that something needed to change,” she told the Observer.
“Once we knew that the idea was viable, I spoke to one of our trustees, Sandy Capaldi and the Almonry museum, and before I knew it, we had volunteers, Evesham Garden Centre donating soil, seeds and bark, and a couple of community members were donating plants and seeds too.”
The Youth Justice Service and their young people made some bird boxes.
The garden has also been designed to be an educational hub where people of all ages can learn about where their food comes from and how it is grown.
“It is just amazing, we have harvested produce from the garden already, which has gone into the larder. Seeing people happy to have fresh veg is a bit of magic really.
“Everyone has worked extremely hard and I’m ever so grateful,” said Sian.
The garden will also be a safe, beautiful place to connect and find support for people feeling lonely and isolated.
The space will be used by a diverse range of local groups, including the Evesham Dementia Action Alliance, Youth Justice, Worcestershire Headway, the Friday Youth Club, and many more.
An official opening of the project on July 2 was attended by the mayor and mayoress of Evesham, councillors Bill and Celia Kimberley, volunteers and other local representatives.
