Monthly Archives: July 2019

Tidy Sunday August 2019

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The next Tidy Sunday is Sunday 4th August 2019. Please note this date for your diary:

Sunday 4th August 2019

Some members may prefer to attend on Saturday 3rd August and myself and your Chairperson, John Wood, will attend on both Saturday and Sunday

These are the areas and tasks that we plan to focus on:

  • mowing grass
  • strimming grass and pathways
  • removing weeds and overgrowth from pathways
  • removing weeds from the planted beds

During the last Tidy Weekend in July, 2 plot-holders continued to clear weeds from the overgrown pathways. The photograph below shows the results of this weed clearing.

A photograph that illustrates the before and after of pathway clearing at Craven Arms Community Garden.
CACG Paths Before and After Clearing

More recently we have started to re-surface the pathways and this is shown in the photograph below:

A photograph of a re-surfaced pathway at Craven Arms Community Garden
Re-surfaced Pathway at CACG

We have a number of projects under way at the moment aimed at restoring the Community Gardens to their former glory. We are able to carry out this re-surfacing project because we have received a grant from Craven Arms Town Council – to whom we are extremely grateful.

We have several more projects under way to improve the security and appearance of the Community Gardens. If any plot-holder are able to help us with these projects then please contact myself, Sean Scannell, Secretary, or John Wood, Chairperson.

New Planter

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Here at Craven Arms Community Garden we have been busy on a number of projects aimed at restoring the gardens to their former glory. This post describes work to construct a new planter.

Regular readers will know that we have recently received a grant from Craven Arms Town Council. We are using the grant funds to repair and enhance some of the features of Craven Arms Community Garden, including:

  • restoring pathways to their original condition
  • replacing rotten planters

Two Committee members have constructed a new planter based on a design developed by your Chairman John Wood.

The original planters are showing their age and in some case are completely rotten, as shown in the photograph below:

A photograph of an original planter at Craven Arms Community Garden
An Original CACG Planter

As we took this original planter apart it became evident that the wood was rotten throughout and none could be salvaged.

The photograph below shows the new planter we have constructed:

A photograph of a new planter at Craven Arms Community Garden
A New CACG Planter

This new planter is constructed from treated timber and we’ve used a plastic lining which should give us a longer life than the original planters. We’ve also taken the opportunity to ensure inclusivity and this planter is wheelchair-friendly.

We are extremely grateful to Craven Arms Town Council for providing us with a grant of £800 which allows us to improve the Community Garden and help preserve this facility for current and future plotholders, their families and visitors.

Connexus Grant “CACG Regeneration”

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The Committee of Craven Arms Community Garden have successfully applied to the Connexus Community Development Fund for a grant of £2385 towards our “CACG Regeneration” project.

Connexus Logo

The Connexus Community Development Fund helps fund communities working together on local projects which have a positive effect in their area.

“CACG Regeneration”

The grant was sought under the banner of a “CACG Regeneration” project that aims to restore the Community Garden to it’s former glory.

In recent years the Community Garden has started to show signs of it’s age – with the fences, paths, planters and raised beds all showing some disrepair.

As a Committee we have also had to deal with other challenges including vandalism and theft of produce and tools.

The overall aim of the “CACG Regeneration” project is to improve the Community Garden for both members and the wider community, and specific aims are:

  • to combat theft and vandalism through new fences and improved security
  • some remedial works – new planters and repairing raised beds
  • to support inclusivity
  • development of a new extension with additional plots
  • restoring the Community Garden to it’s former glory
  • ensuring the future of CACG for Craven Arms

CACG and Community Benefits

In addition to the benefits for CACG members, this “CACG Regeneration” will provide benefits to the wider community by:

  • encouraging wider community links and engagement
  • offering a more inclusive experience
  • helping to establish the link between growing food and eating food
  • promoting gardening as an antidote to stress
  • encouraging gardening as healthy exercise and good for personal wellbeing

The Community Garden is already a communal, cross-generational meeting space and through our CACG Regeneration project we hope to make the Community Garden more attractive to more new members from the local community.

Thanks to Connexus

We are very grateful to the Connexus Community Development Fund for this grant which will allow us to protect, enhance and develop the Community Garden for for the benefit of Craven Arms.

Call For Volunteers

There are many small projects within the overall CACG Regeneration and we are always looking for additional help and support from members with these projects. If you are able to help please get in touch with a Committee member.

Connexus Copyright

The logo image used at the start of this blog post belongs to Connexus whose copyright is acknowledged.