There is no doubt that humans have an innate connection with nature as well as the need to socialise and belong to a community of people with similar interests. Studies have shown how your heart rate and blood pressure drop after only three or four minutes in a garden, and that ‘green exercise’ from gardening also benefits physical and mental health. Community gardens are for everyone, whether just visiting and chatting, getting involved hands on, or using the space therapeutically. Giving back and helping others, including those in pain or distress, by sharing your knowledge of gardening, or whatever skills and experience you have, is of real value to the community. Wellbeing, the relief from loneliness, and connecting with nature continue to see a real surge of interest for home gardeners to cultivate their patch no matter the size, often helped along by existing community gardens and groups who impart knowledge and advice with enthusiasm. With the economic situation, stresses about finances and food poverty, the chance to get into a garden, especially if you don’t have one at home, becomes even more valuable.
Help transform a neglected space to something the whole community can benefit from(Image: Leigh Clapp)
Community gardens make gardening accessible, bringing people together from different walks of life with a shared interest in growing and nurturing, creating an enriching experience. For many, community gardening equates to growing food, for others it’s the chance to learn new skills, meet new people, green a local area or conserve wildlife habitats. You are sharing the process and benefits of caring for the environment, while helping others, and there is often the ripple effect to the surrounding area, attracting more wildlife, helping people eat more healthily, and even creating a safer place to live. Cleaner, greener streets have been linked to lower crime rates and reduced anti-social behaviour. Green social prescribing such as therapeutic community gardening also has real benefits, with over 400 places on offer across England.
Community gardens give the opportunity to grow fresh produce(Image: Leigh Clapp)
There are hundreds of community gardens across the county to get involved with. Here are just three community gardens in Sussex to give you a flavour of what’s on offer. The Old Green Community Garden in Stanmer Street, Hollingdean, is just one of over 70 community gardens in Brighton. It works with its local community to create and nurture a cultivated garden based on permaculture principles. As well as contributing to biodiversity in an urban area, the garden also encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to enjoy and appreciate the natural environment, and to make use of the space for their well-being. ‘The groups of people regularly utilising the garden include dog walkers, cyclists, local families, picnicking groups of young people, children and babies and carers, local residents stopping off from the shops, older people and disabled people as a rest place and asylum seekers,’ explains treasurer Kate Bloor. ‘We also host Duke of Edinburgh youngsters undertaking certification activities and a self-run trans horticultural project. We try to encourage and welcome many different groups of people to use the space especially those that are disadvantaged or excluded, based on inclusive principles,.
Growing food is central to the community gardens(Image: Leigh Clapp)
Many of the plants are local and indigenous, with primarily medicinal and edible varieties, and there are small ponds to support wildlife. People can get involved with the various activities, such as workgroups to maintain the garden while learning about the plants, habitats, wildlife and the environment. The space, which is around 25 feet by 70 feet, is also used for local cultural groups and a mix of reclaimed tables and chairs encourage the community to spend time appreciating this relaxing garden. ‘Our core objectives are to create a sustainable project which can fund raise and draw people from the community into its development, management and maintenance, developing capacity and skills with and for local people,’ Kate adds. ‘We aim to create a space that is useable by those who do not have access to gardens, and groups of people without the opportunity to interact, providing opportunities for learning about nature, and plants and wildlife.’
Sharing the harvest is part of many communal gardens(Image: Leigh Clapp)
The Seaford Community Garden is tucked away in a corner of Crouch gardens and is open on Wednesday mornings all year round, except for the Christmas week, and on Saturdays through summer. ‘We welcome new volunteers, beginners and experienced and aim to create a welcoming atmosphere,’ says Lesley Drew, the secretary of the committee. ‘People often literally gasp as they walk in. Friendship grows out of a shared goal: we all want it to be a beautiful and productive place. It’s hard to know which is more important – that the plants thrive, or that the people thrive. The two are so interconnected. We want to create a place where people and the natural world around them are both nurtured’. Set up 18 years ago from a council vehicle storage depot, the space now blooms with flowers beds, productive plots, a polytunnel, wildlife pond and a classroom where volunteers share a tea break. This lively, cheerful group even say their company makes weeding fun and many friendships have been forged over the years. ‘Everyone is a volunteer, and they have all walked in of their own accord,’ Lesley adds. ‘We make no charge to come, and ask for no commitment. People who live on their own, have learning disabilities, are hearing impaired, no longer have a garden, suffer from anxiety, are between jobs, bereaved, new to the area, visiting grandchildren …..all these are reasons for coming, and staying.’
Children can learn where their food comes from(Image: Leigh Clapp)
Our Community Garden in East Hoathly, which was set up in 2015, is a therapeutic garden that brings together people facing physical and mental challenges. ‘We work as a team to grow food for the local Food Bank in an environment where everyone is valued for what they contribute,’ explains team member Paula Cairney. ‘We see people blossom as the result of spending time outdoors working as part of an inclusive team.’ Volunteers are on hand Tuesday and Friday mornings for open sessions and welcome regular groups as well, such as Tinkers Hatch assisted living in Heathfield, students with complex learning needs and the local village primary school. There is no charge for anyone who comes to the garden, especially important for people on low incomes, and is a key part of the garden’s ethos. Grants and donations from the community have enabled the initial set up and development of the project. The garden occupies six plots in the local allotments. ‘We work hand in gardening glove with the other plot holders to swap seeds and advice,’ says Paula. ‘They buy from our Plant Cart and we hand out leftover cake. Gardening is best when it’s shared.’
As with all the community gardens, volunteers are always needed. You are bound to be welcomed with a cup of tea, piece of cake and gardening gloves if needed! Do investigate your local community garden and get involved where you can enjoy the benefits of being in nature with like-minded people.
Connect with the earth and grow food using organic principles(Image: Leigh Clapp)
To know
• Stanmer Street The Old Green Community Garden
growinghollingdean.org.uk
• The Seaford Community Garden
renaturingseaford.org
• East Hoathly and Halland Community Garden, Our Community Garden
ourcommunitygarden.org.uk
Some further community gardens to get involved with
• Petworth Community Garden
growingforall.org.uk
• Mid Sussex Community Garden, Cuckfield
mscommunitygarden.wixsite.com
• Pevensey and Westham Community Forest Garden
eastbournefoodpartnership.org.uk
• Grove Garden, Haywards Heath
grovegarden.uk
• Peacehaven Community Garden
peacehaventowncouncil.gov.uk
• The Garden Project, St Edward’s Burgess Hillsted
wardsburgesshill.uk
• Brighton and Hove Food Partnership
Volunteer in community gardens
bhfood.org.uk
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