Ken Orr from St John’s Presbyterian Church, Newtownbreda sent us this update:
Knockbreda Community Wildlife Garden began as a pandemic lockdown project, providing a safe space for people to go. It was set up in the grounds of Knockbreda Methodist Church on Rosetta Road, Belfast. Right from the start, it involved people from across the spectrum of churches in the Ormeau Road area, and has grown to become a resource for all people in the local community, regardless of background.
The Community Wildlife Garden has had a very successful year in 2023-24. Numbers attending remained high, and several projects were completed, including the barbecue/pizza area and the replacement of two obsolete tool sheds. Following judging in August, we were declared winners of ‘Best Community Garden’ in the Belfast in Bloom Awards, and we were runners-up in the ‘Live Here, Love Here’ Champions Award, presented by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful in March. The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Ryan Murphy, visited during April 2024 and planted a climbing rose by the entrance fence to mark the occasion.
Early in the year we made a successful application to the Aviva Foundation for a grant of £5000 under the ‘Save Our Wild Isles’ scheme (SOWI). This was a follow-up to the David Attenborough television series of the same name, and is promoted by the National Trust, RSPB and the World Wide Fund for Nature. We were subsequently selected to take part in the filming of a documentary about the efforts being made to protect biodiversity across the UK. Two film makers from England came for a very intense week of videoing the garden and in-depth interviews with many of the garden volunteers. The video has just been released by the SOWI organisation on their Youtube channel: see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYgrztQvJgk.
Events:
Despite all this excitement, our focus is very much on Community Wildlife Gardening. The Garden has raised beds, two polytunnels and an orchard allowing us to grow a large range of fruit and vegetables. We leave as much space as possible for Wildlife, through beehives, a pond, bug hotels and log heaps, and lots of ‘untidy’ corners. We hold regular events to invite the local Community to participate. These have included:
- an annual Plant Sale
- Apple Fest in October (these two events each attracted over 200 people)
- Macmillan coffee morning
- pizza evenings
- visits by school groups and a holiday Summer Scheme for children
- carols sung around a Christmas tree in the garden
- a special coffee morning just for those houses backing on to the Garden – good relations with our next-door-neighbours are a priority.
