St Anthony’s Community Garden – 50 Years: Growing, Connecting, Belonging

A welcoming community garden where people of all ages can grow, connect and belong — supporting mental health, wellbeing and reflection while building on our St Anthony's Bear Initiative and creating new connections across our wider community.

St Anthony’s celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025, and we want to mark this milestone by creating something lasting for the next generation. We want to transform the tired and underused green space at the front of the school into a vibrant, community-led garden focused on mental health, health and wellbeing, nature, connection and belonging.

We want to do more than simply tidy the existing space. We want to create somewhere people can pause, breathe, reflect, connect with nature and with one another. Our pupils have already asked for the area to be improved and have tried to care for it themselves. We want to build on that enthusiasm by giving pupils a voice in shaping the garden.

WHAT WE WANT TO CREATE

Wildlife, wildflowers and sensory planting Wildflowers, pollinator-friendly planting, scented plants and herbs will provide colour, texture, seasonal interest and opportunities to experience nature through sight, smell, touch and sound. Wildlife features and natural habitats will encourage biodiversity.

Community growing A manageable growing area will include suitable herbs, strawberries, blueberries and other edible plants. This will create opportunities to learn about growing and caring for living things and provide a starting point for bringing our currently unused polytunnel back into productive use.

Reflection and remembrance A quieter area with natural seating will provide somewhere to pause, reflect and be together. The existing memorial tree and plaque for a former pupil will be sensitively incorporated. This will be a place for remembrance, but also for gratitude, hope and celebrating our community.

The St Anthony's Bear Trail Our successful Primary 1 Bear Initiative gives every new P1 child a bear to adopt and keep throughout their school journey. The bears have become a shared symbol of belonging, equality, friendship and wellbeing. A simple Bear Trail will encourage children and families to explore nature, growing and quieter spaces together.

Community creativity We would like to explore a future community mural on the large plain brick wall at the front of the school, involving children in developing the design and celebrating St Anthony’s history, local nature, belonging and hopes for the future. This would be a future phase, subject to permissions and additional support.

WHAT WILL OUR PROJECT MEAN?

• Children and young people – a place to explore, discover, grow and follow the Bear Trail, while developing belonging, friendship and equality. • Mental health and wellbeing – a calm outdoor environment where people can pause, breathe, reflect and enjoy nature. • Families – opportunities to share ideas, volunteer and grow things together. • Wider community – opportunities for families, volunteers, local businesses, our chapel/parish community and Arran View to contribute and connect. • Intergenerational connection – opportunities for Arran View residents and younger generations to garden, share stories and knowledge, enjoy nature or simply spend time together. • Nature and environment – more wildflowers, pollinators, wildlife habitat and community growing. • Reflection and remembrance – a peaceful place to sit, remember and celebrate the people and experiences that have shaped our community. • Community pride – a space shaped by children, families, businesses and volunteers that people can be proud to have helped create.

At the heart of our project is a simple idea: a place to pause, connect and belong.

WHY THIS IS A COMMUNITY PROJECT

Over the past few years, our Parent Council has grown from strength to strength. We have built stronger relationships with families, local businesses and the wider community and have seen how much can be achieved when people come together around a shared idea. Local businesses have already offered plants, practical time and horticultural advice, while parents, families and volunteers will be encouraged to contribute ideas, skills and time.

The front location is highly visible to children, families, visitors and people passing the school. We want people arriving at St Anthony’s to see a welcoming space that demonstrates what can happen when a community works together. The road and essential access routes will remain unchanged.

OUT-OF-HOURS AND WIDER COMMUNITY USE

Although the garden will provide benefits to pupils during the school day, our intention is for it to become a shared space that brings our school and wider community together beyond the normal school day.

Our Parent Council already has experience of bringing our community together outside school hours. As part of St Anthony’s 50th anniversary celebrations, we organised a community celebration which was not fundraising-focused, giving pupils, families and our wider community an opportunity to come together.

We have also publicly shared through our Parent Council and wider social media that we would like to host garden activities and community gardening days. These have not yet taken place because the garden currently needs significant work before it is suitable and welcoming for this type of activity. The project will create the foundations needed to make those plans possible.

We would like to develop family gardening days, a small community gardening club, seasonal planting, wildlife and nature activities, informal outdoor health and wellbeing sessions and community volunteering. These do not need to be large events; they can provide opportunities for children, parents, carers, volunteers and the wider community to spend time outdoors, contribute to the garden and enjoy the space together.

The intergenerational aspect is particularly important. Arran View is already connected with our school community through pupil visits, choir performances and residents attending school events. We have also discussed our plans with a parent who works at Arran View, who has expressed enthusiasm about helping residents become involved. We want to build on this relationship through shared gardening, planting, nature, storytelling and simply enjoying the outdoor space together.

We also want to build on our chapel/parish connections and involve local businesses, volunteers and families who have shown an interest in helping us develop the garden.

Activities will be pre-arranged with the school and take place outside normal school hours, with access managed through the school’s safeguarding and site arrangements.

As our garden grows, we want our community to grow with it — breaking down barriers between generations, building on the connections we already have and creating new ones through nature, gardening, wellbeing and a shared sense of belonging.

ACCESSIBILITY, SUSTAINABILITY AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

The garden will be designed to be enjoyed by people of different ages and abilities, with varied scents, textures, colours, natural sounds, accessible planting and quiet seating. We will consider accessibility, safeguarding, maintenance and long-term sustainability.

We see this as the beginning of a longer-term project. Future fundraising, local business support, donations, volunteering and community partnerships will help us develop the garden further.

Community Action: The project brings people together through volunteering, gardening, nature, wellbeing and intergenerational activity.

Local Ownership: It transforms an underused, visible space into something shaped and cared for by pupils, families and the wider community, creating pride in our local area.

Greener Communities: Wildflowers, pollinator planting, wildlife habitat, edible growing and bringing the polytunnel back into use will support biodiversity and encourage people to connect with nature.

Community Innovation: The project combines gardening, outdoor wellbeing, the Bear Trail and intergenerational activity to create new ways for our community to connect. It also provides a foundation for future partnerships and development.

PROPOSED £1,000 FIRST PHASE

• £200 – Wildflower, pollinator and sensory planting • £300 – Community growing plants and materials • £150 – Compost, planting materials and natural growing resources • £150 – Wildlife features/habitat resources • £100 – St Anthony Bear Trail materials • £100 – Natural sensory/tactile materials

TOTAL: £1,000

The £1,000 funding will create the foundations for a project that can continue to grow through fundraising, donations, volunteering, local business support and community partnerships.

50 Years – Growing, Connecting, Belonging