GREEN-FINGERED volunteers have helped a community allotment garden blossom into shape in Greenfield – and now more helpers are invited to get involved too.
Adventure Based Learning (ABL), a community interest company, set about transforming a plot of land at their base at Waterside Mill with the help of five local residents last November.
In just four months, the ‘Greenfield Growers’ have tided up the area, planted new flowers and native plants, created fruit, vegetable and herb gardens, and are laying the foundations for a polytunnel.
Cally Statham, who is leading the project for ABL, explained: “We want to provide an introduction to a healthy lifestyle which may seem out of reach to some.
“Getting a group of residents to help us do this much in just a couple of months is very positive. It has been transformed from not very much into a promising project so quickly.
“Anyone who would like to lend a hand, gain new skills and reap the benefits of such a project, please get in touch.
“Or if you have any spare gardening equipment cluttering up your shed, the Greenfield Growers would gladly give it a new home!”
ABL, formed in January 2011, organises activities for local schools, community groups, the elderly, vulnerable adults, children in care, people with learning or physical disabilities.
They utilise their surroundings, like Dovestone Reservoir, to offer activities including hiking, climbing, pot holing and navigating courses.
Cally, who joined ABL six months ago, added: “We have lots of activities for able bodied people, but one person’s idea of an adventure may be completely different to the next, so I wanted to offer a more physically accessible side.”
The Greenfield Growers have been helped by Louise Dinh, who is the new Growing Ambassador for Saddleworth and Lees as part of the Get Oldham Growing initiative.
She said: “This is one of the first projects I have got involved with and it’s coming on very well. I missed just one week and to see how much it changed in that time was amazing!”
For more information or to get involved with the Greenfield Growers Community Allotment Garden, please email cally-statham@live.co.uk or call 01457 871617.
You can also visit their website: www.adventurebasedlearning.org.uk
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