Newbold Community Garden Project

Our Place Partnership Lead (PPL) was originally contacted by a local resident interested in applying for Community Investment Grants so she went out to visit them at their church group and met some very keen volunteers. The group had just been granted a section of waste land owned by Rochdale Borough Housing and they wanted to make it into a community garden for the local community to access.

PPL helped them with the application process as this was a barrier to the volunteers who had never written a fund application before. She met with them at a local leisure centre, they completed it together and successfully received £2,000. PPL asked the volunteers what was on their wish list, and they said they were in desperate need to raise funds for a Polytunnel as until they had that, nothing else could get started as it was the foundation behind the project. They used the funding to purchase a Polytunnel and some sports equipment for local volunteers to deliver projects during half term. The Polytunnel is multi-purpose as it is a base for the volunteers to work from, storage for their equipment, a place to meet and invite others and the catalyst of the project.

One local resident said, “This project means so much to this community. We’ve never had anything like this before. We have no words. We are completely taken back by it. The bonfire night left me speechless and in tears. It was the best time I have ever had. I thank you so much for putting this project together, it is now starting to bring the community together”.