An area of scruffy land on a housing estate is being transformed into an attractive community garden that will also provide healthy vegetables for residents.
The scheme on the Tan y Lan estate, in Old Colwyn, has been made possible by a £3,700 grant from Cartrefi Conwy.
The cash has come from the housing association’s £250,000 Community Chest fund.
The idea for the garden at the rear of the community centre came from mother-of-three Jenny Hughes who is at the hub of virtually all activities on the estate.
Her contribution was recognised last year when she won two prestigious awards.
As well as being named Conwy Council’s Community Champion, she was presented with the Ruth Radley Award for outstanding achievement in participation in the awards scheme organised by the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS Cymru).
Jenny said: “It’s going to be a garden for everyone, from mothers and toddlers right up to the older generation. It will have access for the disabled.
“We’ll have raised beds and there will be access for the disabled, including a path suitable for wheelchairs.
“It will be an enclosed garden and there will be a water feature and trellises with climbers around the perimeter.
“We’ll be growing a lot of vegetables and we’ll be using them for the meals we cook at the community centre.
“We’ll be growing all sorts – potatoes, carrots, cabbages and we’ll also be selling the vegetables to people who live on the estate.
“It’ a very sustainable idea and we are just looking forward to getting stuck in.
“My Dad, Phil Hughes, is a keen gardener and he will be doing a lot of the work. With all the other volunteers lending a hand, it should take about three months to do the work and hopefully we’ll be able to get our winter veg in for this year.
“Without the funding from the Cartrefi Conwy Community Chest, the idea would have been a non-starter. It would have been an idea left on the shelf.
“The money has enabled us to buy the trellises and the fence posts and we’ve got money to buy the concrete, the slabs and everything else we need.
“Everything we’re doing is about improving the quality of life for tenants which is important.
Cartrefi Conwy’s Community Involvement Manager, Phil Jones, said: “Initiatives like this are very much what Cartrefi Conwy is about – creating communities to be proud of.
“We want to use our Community Chest and Environmental Fund to help communities develop and progress.
“We are able to help groups to develop their own ideas by giving financial support.
“The key thing is that this project is going to help the community get involved with what is happening down here.
“We would like to use it as a beacon so that tenants from other estates and other groups come here and glean some ideas which they can take on board and possibly replicate.
“Jenny is the spark. All roads lead back to Jenny in terms of making things happen – her contribution is crucial.
“We have allocated £50,000 a year for five years to our Community Chest fund, so that’s a total of £250,000 that groups across the county can apply for.
“The only thing we ask is that there is a link with our tenants or the local area where they live. Anybody who meets the criteria can apply. Grants are awarded following consideration by the Community Chest Panel which is made up of a group of our tenants.”
Anybody interested in finding out more about how to apply for Community Chest funding should contact Cartrefi Conwy’s Community Involvement Manager, Phil Jones, either by ringing 01492 805529 or emailing [email protected]
