A garden bursting with fresh veg, fruit and flowers has opened in South East Edinburgh thanks to thousands of pounds in funding.
Linked to one of the busiest community centres in the city, the Gilmerton community garden has been designed to bring local people together.
With accessible raised beds, even the littlest helpers from Blossom Tree Nursery could join older residents of Gilmerton and local politicians including ward Councillors Martha Mattos-Coelho and Lezley Marion Cameron and MP for Edinburgh South Ian Murray to celebrate the garden's opening.
Created in partnership with the community centre's management committee, Edinburgh Lothian Greenspace Trust (ELGT) and the City of Edinburgh Council, the space has been completely funded by local business P1 Solutions Ltd. They have delivered the project through their commitments under the City of Edinburgh Council's community benefits programme - which works to make sure all contractors employed by the council also give back to local initiatives.
Over £66,000 has been invested creating planters, new paths and a number of accessibility improvements to the garden. It followed an approach for help from the community centre to the council, which linked up members to speak with P1 Solutions.
Councillor Jane Meagher, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, said:
What a fantastic, accessible space for affordable and sustainable food growing. I hope lots of people get the chance to explore the new garden and feel encouraged to try planting and gardening for themselves. There is clearly a lot of enthusiasm from the community centre's members, and I'm really pleased that we've been able to match them with this generous funding from a local company which supports us to maintain our tenants' homes.
Lynsey Thorpe, Gilmerton Management Committee, said:
The Gilmerton Management Committee is delighted to officially open the community garden. We’d like to thank all our partners who have helped to bring about this amazing space. It’s brilliant to have a garden where the community can come together and try gardening themselves, learning new skills and working together with different people, often from different generations. The community have found it to be a great help for mental health and we are delighted that the Community Centre has such a space available to all. We look forward to our first batch of produce.
Steve Melville, Managing Director of P1 Solutions, said:
P1 Solutions Ltd is once again delighted to have been able to contribute a completely renovated exterior space, at no cost to the Council nor the public, to be used by the local community.
Over the years the projects such as these that we have carried out have proven time and time again the worth of this type of benefit within a Council Framework; that being able not only to improve a group of individuals quality of life but that of the entire Community is of greater worth than just offering a discount or a free lunch. These will be lasting, valuable spaces for all.
We look forward to being able to carry out many more in the upcoming years.