We are pleased to announce the National Lottery Community Fund has awarded us £2,850 towards our ‘Re-invigorate three community gardens‘ project application.
In the last year; our residents association has formed an active volunteer gardening program that conducts bi-weekly garden clean and clear days; as well as
active gardening and maintenance of three large gardens in central Hove – The Floral Clock Gardens; Palmeira Gardens; and Adelaide Gardens.
The residents association has been going for 25 years; with circa 280 members; and 450+ households surrounding the parks and gardens that are widely used for resident leisure. In the last year we raised roughly £1500 from residents towards new plants; bulbs; shrubs; tools; and administrative costs to organise our
group of 25 garden volunteers to help maintain the gardens in ownership of the council. Our volunteers have logged over 200+ labour hours working in the gardens during 2024. This award allows us to continue this work and tackle some of the larger projects we have in the garden plans and support for our community activities.
A word from our chairman
I would like to personally thank and commend the efforts of our all our resident community, active volunteers, and the whole committee in winning this grant. Through the combined effort of all our volunteers and members, we have been able to re-invigorate both our streetscapes and green spaces this past year, and set in place a plan for the communal public green spaces. Now, with this awarded grant, we’ll be able to further support the volunteer program, and enhance the gardens with a more varied planting scheme, improving the biodiversity through a wide variety of perennial plants for wildlife to thrive. Our efforts to improve the gardens and bring together the community, offers everyone a greater sense of community pride in our public gardens for everyone to enjoy.
In the coming years, we hope to expand our community involvement in our green spaces to include things such as a plant propagation foster program, a horticultural education program, and expand our team of volunteer gardeners. These efforts will provide more people with a wider understanding of how urban green spaces can offer more than just a nice walk in the park, but can also connect us to a biodiverse planet as a whole.
Ted Davis
Chairman