Categories: General

Seed2Plate in Ferndown

Seed2Plate at The Centre Ferndown

Our Green Care team braved the torrential rain this week to complete the build at The Centre Ferndown. Following two years of fundraising the team have managed to secure enough funding to build a community garden at Ferndown Family Hub, this has been achievable through the Ferndown Family Hub, CLA Charitable Trust and Tesco Stronger Starts, previously named Bags for Help.

What’s this project all about?

The project will create a community growing garden, working with Ferndown Community Hub, training local volunteers and families to help maintain the space and connect young people with the adjoining Ferndown Common, Dorset, a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The funding will be used to help young people get involved in outdoor horticulture activities, exploring different land-based themes, learning about plants and how to maintain them, the local biodiversity and also connecting them to Ferndown Common through horticulture.

The project will engage with volunteers to repurpose an unused plot of land to construct accessible raised beds and when planted, grow fresh fruit and vegetables for a local low-income community, whilst gaining skills and Level 1 horticulture qualifications through the National Open College Network.

Working in partnership with the Community:

Through partnership with the Ferndown Community Hub the project will work with the Ferndown community, families, elderly, and young people from Tricketts Cross estate, the second highest area of deprivation in Dorset, outside Weymouth and Portland. There are approximately 800 low income families on the estate as well as many elderly, and Hopscotch Pre School currently has 160 children attending from the local area.

In an area with many older people living in flats, there is little access to public green space for community use. It is through talking with these families that we identified the need for this project. These raised beds and benches will make this space a place to come and relax, get involved with the local community and grow fresh produce for those that need it.

A special thank you to Eco Sustainable Solutions Ltd for donating and delivering the compost! We have planted some beetroot, carrot, chard and herbs and lots of strawberry plants to keep the garden going until spring and will be running workshops at the centre in the near future, so watch this space!

For details contact Lydia Harvey on lydia.harvey@dorsetcommunityaction.org.uk

Sources and Thanks to:
Eco Sustainable Solutions
The Centre Ferndown
CLA Charitable Trust
Tesco Stronger Starts Scheme – Tesco’s Stronger Starts – previously Tesco Bags of Help and Tesco Community Grants – has already provided over £100 million to more than 50,000 projects across Britain.

About Seed2Plate:
The Seed2Plate project provides volunteer and work placement opportunities along with training and qualifications in horticulture. Seed2Plate transforms unused plots of land into growing spaces for the community aiming to provide free fresh fruit and vegetables for low-income families. DCA is a National Open College Network (NOCN) accredited training centre.

Rae Fry