COVID STORIES: GROWING FOR WELLBEING IN TROWBRIDGE AND ST MELLONS

In Cardiff, community volunteers have organised a Veg Plant Giveaway in the local area to encourage gardening for mental and physical health during lockdown.

Hope St Mellons are active members of Together Trust – the Invest Local group in the Trowbridge and St Mellons area of Cardiff. In March, they invited local gardeners and growers to sow extra seeds to be distributed among the local community.

With support from the St Mellons Community Garden, local people grew and donated more than 500 seedlings and plants – from cucumbers and kale to strawberries and spaghetti squash.

Two local children - Brianna and Amelie – created artwork to decorate labels and growing instructions for the plants.

The volunteer team set-up help-your-self stalls across the community for people to collect plants when doing their daily exercise. Within a few hours, the plants, compost and garden canes were gone and now over 100 households in the area are growing their own food.

The popularity of the project has meant that it’s continued over the weeks – with surplus plants being redistributed around the community. It’s meant lots of (socially distanced!) connections have been made , with neighbours offering gardening tips, spare plants and pots and even freshly baked bread!

Resident and volunteer Helen Griffiths said: "It’s been wonderful to see so many people come together even though we’re physically apart, and to see community forming around this wonderful shared hobby, which is so good for our physical and mental health."