Growing together in South Bristol

Over two days in March 2022, around 70 men and women from St James’s Place Wealth Management – who are more used to biros and keyboards than saws and drills – transformed land at the Teyfant Road Adventure Playground in Hartcliffe, South Bristol, into a community garden.

Thanks to the hard work of the volunteers, the reimagined green space, managed by not-for-profit social enterprise Learning Partnership West (LPW), will mean local children and residents can come together and learn about, grow and prepare fruit, vegetables and flowers.

The garden was made possible by Splash Projects, which matches businesses with charities and facilitates the build of transformational community projects, globally. The community garden follows the creation of the adventure playground in August 2019 by Splash and BAE Systems for LPW.

Archie Morrell, head of services for children at LPW, said: “What we are creating here is something exciting and fulfilling for children and teenagers to do. The addition of the garden allows older members of the community who may feel isolated at times, to get out, come together and strengthen community ties.”

LPW provides a safe space that supports children’s learning, development and growth that is accessible after school, during term-time and the holidays. They are also one of the leading providers in the city for the government’s Holiday Activities and Food Fund, which aims to ensure children on free school meals don’t go hungry during the holidays.

“We are here all year round for children and families and a big part of the project is making sure children don’t go hungry,” Archie continued. “The garden will show the children how to grow their own produce, and then prepare it in our kitchen space. A fed child is a happy and more engaged child.”

More than two dozen raised planting beds have been created, in addition to benches and paths. Each planting bed is worth over £3,000 in social value.