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Volunteers needed to make Walsall community garden blossom

Green-fingered volunteers are being urged to roll-up their sleeves and get digging to transform a disused plot of land in Walsall into a community garden.

Caldmore Housing Association is working with the Caldmore Village Festival Group and a number of other organisations to make-over the land off Carless Street, after it was leased to them by Walsall Housing Group.

Local schools including Caldmore Community Primary School, Whitehall Junior School and Whitehall Nursery and Infants School, have been working with Caldmore Housing Association to come up with ideas and designs for the new garden and a number of ‘Dig it Days’ will now be held to transform the land.

The first ‘Dig it Day’ will take place on Saturday, 11 February from 10am to 4pm and volunteers are needed to mark routes for pathways, map out plots and prepare the earth for planting.

There will also be the chance to make bird boxes, which organisers plan to put up in the garden, and visitors and volunteers can give their views on what they think should be grown in the garden.

Each volunteer, who will be provided with equipment and refreshments, will have the opportunity to plant seeds to take away and cultivate in preparation for planting in the garden later in the year.

Once completed, the garden will be used to host a range of community events and activities and local residents will also be able to grow their own fruit, vegetables and plants there.

Margot Lambert, Director for Communities and Arts for Caldmore Housing Association, which is part of the Accord Group, said: “Last year, we ran a number of community clean-up days in Caldmore in a bid to make the area an even better place to live.

“This year, we wanted to go one step further and permanently transform a piece of land into a community garden for local people, organisations and schools to use.

“We’ve had a fantastic response to the garden so far, but we now need volunteers to help us cultivate the land and in turn create a community garden that will make a real difference to the community.”

Alan Cheeseman, Chair of the Caldmore Village Festival Community Garden Group, said: “This garden is a fantastic opportunity to get involved in growing something you like, to help breathe life back into the area and provide a place to meet friends, play, learn and eat from. Come along and be inspired, learn more about what we plan to do and tell us what you want from the garden too.”

To volunteer at the ‘Dig it Day’, or for more information about the community garden, call Margot Lambert on 0300 111 7000 or email margot.lambert@caldmorehousing.co.uk