HomeCommunity gardens
We have five community gardens in:- Glenbank Park - gardeners from Conservation Volunteers NI are on hand every Wednesday from 10am to 12.30pm to give you advice and help improve your skills.
- Suffolk (beside Suffolk Community Centre) - won a Special Award for outstanding presentation at the Translink Ulster in Bloom competition
- Lenadoon (beside Glen Road Community Centre)
- Ballysillan (beside Ballysillan Allotments) – this is in partnership with Conservation Volunteers NI and the Salvation Army
- Waterworks (in Waterworks Park) - this community garden is managed by Grow.
What is a community garden?
A community garden is a shared project where people from all age groups, abilities and backgrounds come together to grow their own fruit, flowers and vegetables. Volunteers then divide the final produce between them, ensuring everyone benefits from working together.By joining our community gardens you can:
- learn new skills
- make friends
- improve your diet by growing your own vegetables
- relieve stress
- save money on groceries
- keep active and get outdoors.
Get involved
Getting involved with our community gardens is free and everyone is invited to come along and get their hands dirty, whether you're on your own or part of a community organisation.Best of all, because working on a community garden is a team effort, you also get to take home the fruits of your labour, whether you're growing fruit, vegetables or flowers.
Phone our Parks Outreach Manager on 028 9032 0202 extension 3641 or email parksandleisure@belfastcity.gov.uk for more information on how to get involved.
Level of experience needed
All levels of experience are welcome, but not essential, as other community gardeners will be on hand to help. Our staff will also provide training workshops.
Time involved
Volunteers can spend as little or as much time as they want at their local site, as all three gardens are open daily. The sites will also be locked when they're not in use to keep them secure.
Tools and equipment
We will supply all the tools and gardening equipment that you will need.
What to wear
Sensible footwear and warm, waterproof clothing during wet weather. It would be useful if you buy a pair of gardening gloves and bring them with you.
Background
We set up additional gardens following the success of our first community garden, located in WaterworksIt opened in 2010, in partnership with Grow, a non-profit community organisation, and has been a huge success, attracting more than 30 volunteers from different community and ethnic backgrounds.
In fact, by working together, our community gardeners have produced so many vegetables, they've been able to give some out to local residents, even after taking their own share of the produce!
Funding and support
Our community gardens have been funded under Priority 1.1 of the European Union’s Peace III programme, as part of the Belfast local action plan.
