On Saturday 7 May 2016 people will be able to go along to Salford’s Buile Hill Park and enjoy a fantastic fun-packed open day.
The event starts at 10.00am and everyone is welcome to go along and take part in a range of free activities, including planting seeds, making woolly wildlife, building a hedgehog home, wildflower and tree spotting, and yarn-bombing.
The open day is being held at the Seedley Park Bowling Green and it has been organised as part of an ongoing project to transform Buile Hill Park’s therapeutic garden into a flourishing community hub. New paths will improve accessibility, new raised beds and a compost system will improve the gardening experience, and new native planting and wildlife-zones will encourage biodiversity.
The project is being led by Start in Salford, which runs the garden. Much of the work is undertaken by volunteers, who get the opportunity to learn new skills as well as make a difference.
Start in Salford was given a disused corner of Buile Hill Park in 2011 and since then its members and local people have transformed it into a thriving community growing-space. It is the base for the organisation’s ‘Start Growing’ scheme, which allows vulnerable people to learn horticultural skills and work alongside the community in a range of gardening projects.
Throughout the year, several horticultural workshops are held to help people learn how to ‘grow your own’. These hands-on sessions are full of practical techniques such as how to cultivate and maintain crops, growing from seed, and creating and implementing planting programmes, along with advice on essential garden-maintenance techniques such as digging, pruning and watering.
As well as being a fun and rewarding activity, it is also a very social one. People taking part get to make new friends and learn how to work alongside others to achieve a sustainable environment.
These improvements are going to cost in the region of £24,000 and funding is coming from The Veolia Environmental Trust, who have awarded £22,520 through the Landfill Communities Fund, and from Start in Salford’s own reserves.
The local community and current users of the garden identified the need for the work. Start in Salford consulted people when planning the project, and once a design was developed, a public meeting was held at the site to gather feedback.
Horticulture Manager Sue Jeffries says, “This year our volunteers have already created a new bog garden, Hazel coppice, wildflower meadow and Willow bed. We are looking for more volunteers to get involved and contribute their ideas to improve the wildlife habitats on the site.”
The Executive Director of The Veolia Environmental Trust, Paul Taylor, adds, “This event sounds like it will be a lot of fun – I hope everyone has a great time. It is also really good to hear about the project’s progress over the past couple of months.”
