The idea
A community project where youth and experience come together.
Students enjoy working in the garden at Elgin which has provided them with a place to enjoy gardening and also helps them to improve their confidence, resilience and their ability to work as part of a team and their ability to communicate with people of different ages and appreciate their local community.
Older people who use the centre engage well with the students and benefit from being part of the garden development and watching them bring the vegetables to harvest and feedback suggests that they enjoy the gardening programme and would like it to continue.
The project started in January 2018 and funding was successfully sourced for one year which has allowed us to get the project started. We now need to work with a volunteer coordinator from HCGA to focus on recruiting people from the local community to become volunteer gardeners who can continue the project into year 3 and further.
What we'll deliver
- Replant and maintain the vegetable boxes and garden.
- Distribute vegetable grown between students and older people.
- Recruit garden volunteers from local community.
Why it's a great idea
This is a great intergenerational project in partnership with three local community groups, Elgin Close Resource Centre, Hammersmith Academy and HCGA to continue a garden project where young people and older people work together.
A volunteer coordinator will help to recruit and train volunteers from the local community to maintain the garden long term which may increase employment opportunities.
Students are accompanied by tutors when they visit the centre to plant and maintain vegetables boxes which include courgettes, potatoes, lettuce, runner beans and much more. This provides a learning curb for the students where they learn about growing vegetables and about the nutritional benefits of growing fresh food and how to cook with them.
Older people at the centre, many who do not have their own gardens, enjoy the garden and look forward to the students attending and watching the progress of their hard work. They also enjoy relaxing in the garden and taking part in outdoor activities.
Steps to get it done
- buying vegetable seed and plants
- digging and planting of vegetables
- recruitment plan for local community volunteers
