The volunteer group behind the Community Roots project, at the Boyd Orr Memorial Garden, have been working to learn about sustainable food growing.
And they are hoping to expand the site by creating a Garden Haven – a multifunctional garden room.
This will provide a sheltered space for workshops, community events, and people wanting to enjoy the garden without participating in physical work.
The Garden Haven will have a small kitchen to allow for meals to be prepared and shared.
It will also serve as a space for learning, relaxation and connection, especially in the colder months.
New multifunctional garden haven plan for community garden(Image: Windward Architectural Design)
The group has plans for a more restful sitting area, a herbs spiral and a banana bench, as well as pathway access and a handrail.
They have grown a variety of vegetables in the garden, including leeks, onions, cauliflowers, and broccoli, which are donated to the community larder.
The garden also serves as an area of support and wellbeing for those involved.
Fi Thorburn, who has helped spearhead the initiative, said: “We believe that this addition will be a vital resource for the community, supporting both mental and physical health, and ensuring that our garden continues to grow – not just in plants but in the relationships we nurture.
“The Community Roots is about fair sharing of things, along the lines of vermiculture, which is that if we share our resources and learn how to sustain those resources together in the community, and lots of people start to do this, it can have a global impact.
“Members have their own growing spaces – generally the resources are used for the larder and the garden providing an additional purpose of being a peer support group. Everyone is of different ages, backgrounds and work experience and it is like a big family.
“You generally find the young volunteers gravitate towards the oldest, so it is a nice inter-generational thing that happens.”
The Community Roots group has worked closely with the West Kilbride Community Initiative who helped with accessing funding, and they knew that they were on the lookout for a community garden area in the town.
The late West Kilbride vet Charlie Garratt used to own the garden which used to host his chickens, behind his surgery.
Volunteer Clive Anells, 66, who is originally from Crawley, said: “The garden has made a massive difference and food grown goes up to the larder, and members can also enjoy the fruits of their labour. The garden has helped bring the community together, and locals appreciate what we do.
“I am the construction man at the garden site, and I am always involved in something here. I am also a member of the Clyde Coast and Cumbraes Men’s Shed.”
They are open to new members and meet on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10am until 1pm.
To donate towards their garden haven project, go here.
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