New community garden project helps unite residents

Residents have forged new friendships as they help develop the community garden

A group of residents have rallied together to transform a strip of neglected wasteland into a community garden.

For nearly 20 years, the area on the corner of Dawberry Road in Kings Heath, Birmingham was plagued by fly-tipping and antisocial behaviour.

With the loss of community centres and youth clubs, resident action group Our Scene CIC set about finding a way to use their love of nature to bring people together.

Now, the Dawberry Community Garden has helped neighbours to forge new friendships and boost their mental health.

Suzanne Carter said the group had big plans for the garden to welcome more members of the community

The group secured permission from Birmingham City Council in March to clear the overgrown area with the help of a grant from the Nature Hubs fund, set up by environmental charity Hubbub and Starbucks.

Suzanne Carter, the chief executive of Our Scene CIC, said: "This project has been a game-changer for reuniting people.

"We have brought back a community space and we're going to turn it into a community asset where we can come together, celebrate each other's cultural traditions.

"In a community, having somewhere to go where you can be useful, have a purpose and meet like-minded people has been really good."

The centrepiece of the garden featured at the BBC Gardeners World show at the NEC

The decorative garden at the centre of the space was designed by gardener Deborah Mole, and featured at BBC Two's Gardeners World show at the NEC in Birmingham during the summer.

Ms Mole said: "These days, in an urban world it is quite hard to get a connection to nature and outdoor spaces.

"It is also to do with community spirit, this is quite altruistic, it is something for everybody, anyone can get involved and bring whatever skills that they have."

Research collected by Hubbub shows more than a third of people in the UK spend less than an hour a week in nature, so for the residents of Dawberry Road, the impact on their wellbeing has been immeasurable.

Jayne Faulkner said the project had a positive impact on her wellbeing

Local resident Jayne Faulkner said: "I used to do my own back garden but when I got ill I couldn't do it anymore.

"When this project came up, I no longer had to do things by myself and I can do gardening alongside other people, it has been so inspiring.

"When I first got ill, I didn't want to leave the house but now friends that I have made here often come to visit me.

"It has done so much for my mental health, I can't emphasise it enough. The area needed something like this."