Billericay Community Gardens

Community spirit isn’t the only thing thriving in our wonderful town, the grounds are as fertile as the folks are friendly and, now, green-fingered and self-sufficient too.

Here at CommunityAd we’re delighted to be launching our first Billericay publication in time for what is set to be a remarkable year for the town with the four hundredth anniversary of the Mayflower’s departure. Although there have been remarkable things going on here for years and a caring compassionate community has been growing from the earth up. We’re blessed with plenty of community groups looking to better our town one as worthy of praise as any is the Billericay Community Gardens. CommunityAd had the pleasure of speaking to Lauren who has been volunteering her gardening know-how for the last six years. Lauren gave up her allotments to focus on the community garden instead where together they’ve grown it all from broad beans to pumpkins, “I fell in love with the idea of developing a welcoming and inclusive green space for everyone to enjoy”.

So, Lauren, Why do you think in recent years there has been a huge shift to DIY gardening/ homegrown produce and why do you think it’s so important projects such as BCG exist?

I think as a society we are definitely becoming more aware of where our food comes from and considering the health benefits of produce grown without pesticides and other chemicals. We’re also having to watch the pennies more and more and growing your own fresh fruit and veg can be a really economical way to eat healthily.

Billericay Community Garden and similar projects are incredibly important for a whole range of reasons; they bring people together, they encourage people to think about others, they teach important skills and they get people active outdoors to name just a few!

The garden is real community asset that engages with the whole community from young to old doesn’t it?

Absolutely! The garden is open to everyone and we have volunteers of all ages attend.

There is a mud kitchen, tree swing, natural climbing area and den building space so all the children that attend have a great time! We also run a weekly Family Forest School at the garden which is really popular.

We have volunteers and visitors from the Brownies, Guides and Scouts, older children completing their Duke of Edinburgh awards, nurseries and childminders, home educators, schools and charitable organisations. We also provide opportunities for businesses to give back to the community by visiting us and completing various projects – we have had several visits from some great working teams from Ford who have made a real difference and had a fantastic impact on the garden.

It must be lovely to see the young ones getting involved and having fun while being green-fingered? It’s crucial to hand these skills down to the next generation is it not?

It is a pleasure to see children enjoying the garden and getting involved. They are the adults of the future and if we instil a love of nature and the great outdoors in them while they are young, they will continue this approach and pass it onto future generations.

We also live in a time where mental health is a serious concern, especially in our young people – research has proven that time outside, immersed in nature has a significant impact on wellbeing.

What would you say to readers who have a bit of free time on their hands and fancy getting a little fingered why should they get involved and how can they do so?

We love engaging new volunteers – being part of the community garden is such a great way to meet new people, get active, learn new skills and have fun! Its also really rewarding seeing the impact you have, not only on the garden itself but also on those who visit and enjoy the garden.

What are the hopes and plans for the coming year? Any dates for our readers diaries?

We have lots to achieve this year but completion of our sensory garden is top of the list!

These are our open days in 2020:

25 th January

22 nd February

21st March

Please come down, meet the team, explore the garden and get involved!

Finally, Lauren, how long have you lived in Billericay and what makes it such a lovely community to be a part of?

I’ve lived in Billericay for 14 years and I love it both for myself and for my 3 children. There is definitely a lovely community feel and lots of fantastic volunteer-run events and organisations. We are also spoilt with the natural beauty of Billericay – with Norsey Wood, Mill Meadows and Queens Park Country Park on our doorsteps. I consider myself very lucky to live and work here.

You can contact the garden via email ([email protected]), Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

 

 

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