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Mark Meets: Greenfingers: How two neglected strips of land became a hub for the Brookvale community
In Brookvale Estate, two thriving allotments are providing education and purpose as well as growing flowers, fruit and vegetables. Run by the Greenfingers Gardening Group, they offer a welcoming space for local people.
Greenfingers is the creation of Pamela Roberts. The group began six years ago when Pamela was offered a neglected area of land.
Grants from the Halton Foundation, the Alfred Shaw Trust, the Runcat Community Action Fund and the BHP Billiton Fund have funded everything from seeds and compost to accessible raised beds, polytunnels and allotment rental. The group grows most of its vegetables from seed and sells them to the community at very low cost.
Here is Mark’s account of his visit.
“Tucked away in Brookvale Estate are two flourishing allotments, one adjoining the Children’s Hub and the other, after a short walk, nestled by the playground in the local Community Centre. Both are the work of the Greenfingers Gardening Group and their indomitable leader, Pamela Roberts.
I had met Pamela previously in her capacity as the founder of HALDS (Halton Adults with Learning Disabilities). Greenfingers is also her brainchild and is a community garden group open to all on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week. Here, flowers, fruit and vegetables are grown which are sold locally with all profits going back to the development and maintenance of the allotments.
Greenfingers began because of an opportunity offered to Pamela to make use of a neglected area of the Community Centre – a venue she was very familiar with. Six years ago, ground was cleared and raised beds inserted using funds solicited from a variety of sources. The second site followed a year later offering more space for produce and planting. Since then, a range of individuals have joined the group. Participants come from all walks of life: students, carers, the elderly, young offenders, individuals with special needs – there are no barriers to being welcomed and valued.
Greenfingers is about socialising as much as the practice of gardening and horticulture. Sessions will often finish with a cuppa in the family cafe, a time when Pamela feels that many are afforded a ‘reset’ in their lives. She is rightly proud of the fact that some who have joined have broken out of the isolation they were experiencing to become stalwarts of the group. Equally, she fondly recalls how a teenager offender found full-time work as a gardener as a direct consequence of his involvement with the project. Some members have been inspired to replicate the allotment formula in their homes, something Pamela feels may arise from how many ‘can’t get over how you can make things from simple seeds’.
The allotments are wholesome, peaceful environments reflecting obvious care, industry and attention to detail. Pamela would welcome more members but appreciates how for some participation even over a short term provides solace and distraction. Funding from the National Lottery has guaranteed rent for two years and bodies such as the National Garden Scheme have helped.
Greenfingers is a perfect example of how the drive of one individual can change lives in a relatively straightforward way. In simply taking ownership of two neglected strips of land and transforming them, Pamela has been instrumental in transforming lives too.”