Bradwell Abbey Gardens

Working in partnership with Inter-Action MK who have offices with us, we were fortunate to receive an Awards for All grant in September 2018 to create 3 new gardens; a community garden growing produce, a sensory garden and a children’s garden. Inter-Action have been undertaking creative projects with people who face challenge since 1975 including folk with physical and learning disabilities, the homeless, Carers and those with mental health needs.

We were overwhelmed with the outpouring of volunteer support including from our own Green Gym, some of our own workers and local businesses to help us create the infrastructure for our community and sensory gardens. (The children's garden will be created with Young Carers later this year).

We already have gardeners from local residents, friends groups, the Mental health ward of the hospital just about ready for discharge, from a local drug rehab centre, isolated older Carers, young adults with Autism and people with learning difficulties building skills and confidence. In return for a plot, gardeners undertake jobs from the chalkboard and donate a percentage of produce to the local foodbank along with having a cuppa and a chance to socialise.

We have events where we sell plants and have run community creative workshops and outdoor Winter Workshops with local Special School students but plan to offer much more! We would love to work with gardeners from international and BAME groups to grow a range of plants from around the world in our second recently donated Polytunnel, so we can have cooking and sharing events.- and perhaps produce a cookbook. Just a quiet example of inclusion where you may be rubbing shoulders with a whole range of people as you tend your veg.

We plan to set up more formal gardening Clubs so gardeners can decide on events and activities and to provide a classroom/meeting room, get a compostable accessible loo and some solar power. We'd like to join the Allotment association. We want to have a stronger relationship with the foodbank to encourage their users to come and grow their own. Inter-Action are training young adult carers and others as mentors to young carers and others.

We plan to run a few events each year, led by our gardeners to help self-fund the clubs. We would like to offer sessions in the sensory garden for families who have young children with complex needs working alongside Artists. All this will take some time and we are always busy raising more funds to make it happen, but CDC and Inter-Action are here for the longterm and are thrilled to imagine that we can offer participation and projects to people not just for a few weeks or months but really for the future.

If you are interested in joining in with help for this project, please contact Director@mkcdc.org.uk