Community Garden Calls for Volunteers – and Visitors
HELENA JONES
Bexhill Community Garden is encouraging people to visit and discover what it has to offer – whether they want to volunteer, learn how to grow food or simply spend time outdoors.
Harvesting Potatoes in the Community Garden
The garden, in Preston Road, Bexhill, forms part of Bexhill Family Collective, which also includes Dragonflies Nursery and a community pantry at Sidley Family Hub. The 0.8-acre garden grows fruit and vegetables for a local community pantry and provides space for activities, workshops and events for all ages.
Richard Best, garden manager at Bexhill Community Garden, says: “We want people just to come down and enjoy being here. There’s no obligation to work, but if you want to do some gardening, or if you want to learn and you’ve never done it before, you can come and we can teach.”
Despite the sloping site, the garden includes polytunnels, sheds, a yurt, pond, amphitheatre and growing beds. Richard emphasises that its purpose goes beyond producing food. “Bexhill Community Garden is an allotment space for growing fruit and vegetables in order to feed our local pantry,” he explains, “but the garden also provides a space for holding activities and workshops for all ages.”
There is a particular emphasis on encouraging children and young people to connect with nature through gardening and creative activities. Previous events have included pumpkin carving, Christmas wreath-making and creating headdresses for Jack in the Green in Hastings. Produce is also used in cooking activities; last year, cherries from the garden were turned into jam on site.
During August, the Collective started running Give an Hour, Grow a Garden sessions on Tuesday mornings to allow people to try volunteering without making a regular commitment. Volunteer coordinator Leanne Deedman is keen to welcome more volunteers: “It might be to pop down to do a bit of watering, help us with a bigger project, do something regularly or just donate a day or a few hours of your time,” she says.
Families with young children can also attend Little Hands, Big Help sessions on Tuesdays from 9.30am to 11am. Children and their grown-ups can help with small gardening jobs or simply enjoy the outdoor space, which includes a pond and mud kitchen.
Leanne stresses that the aim is for local people to see the garden as their own community space. Richard adds: “You can come and take part, or you can come and volunteer. You just come and use the garden as you want.”
For activities or volunteering, visit the Collective Facebook page: facebook.com/BexhillFamilyCollectiveCIC. For volunteering enquiries, email [email protected].
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