Eyesore transformed into community garden

The Spike Island After School Club, which is attended by children and their parents, applied for a £2,100 grant from our ‘Your Salix, Your Say’ fund to makeover the garden area at the back of the Rita House community hub in Lower Broughton.

Rita House on Heath Avenue is regularly used by local community groups, but the children of the Spike Island After School Club were disappointed they couldn’t play out in the garden, which had lain derelict for the past three years.

Georgina Neild, community involvement and new initiatives officer at Salix Homes who assists with the after school club, said: The garden was a real eyesore, strewn with rubbish and broken glass. Every week at the after school club, the children were asking to go out in the garden, but they weren’t allowed as it was just too dangerous.

It was such a shame to see this green space that wasn’t being used, so we were delighted to support the garden makeover through our ‘Your Salix, Your Say’ fund. This has been a great opportunity to turn a derelict piece of land into a fantastic new facility that the whole community can enjoy.

Groundwork carried out the garden makeover, clearing away the undergrowth, shifting the rubbish and building new planters and flower beds. Groundwork also delivered a 10-week ‘Learn to Grow’ course to teach the members and their children how to grow their own fruit and vegetables.

The children at the after school club have also made their own bird feeders and ‘bug houses’ to attract birds and insects into the garden.

Kelly Shortman, whose children Luca and Alicia attend the after school club, said: The garden has made such a big difference and the children love being out there. We’ve got our own vegetable patch, herb bed and even a blueberry bush – it’s fantastic.

The Spike Island garden project was one of 32 community initiatives to receive a share of £58,000 funding this year through the ‘Your Salix, Your Say’ scheme, where recipients are chosen by members of the public.