Fun community event to celebrate anniversary of wildlife garden
17 May 2019
A fun community event has been organised on Saturday 18 May for everyone to attend to celebrate the one-year anniversary of a community and wildlife garden.
The Tullos Community Wildlife Garden Group, with support from Aberdeen City Council’s communities team, has encouraged people who live in the area to go along.
The free celebratory event, which includes an anniversary cake and planting of a tree, interactive stalls, face-painting, planting, stone-painting, refreshments from the tuk tuk and making recycled birdfeeers, is being held on Saturday 18 May from 12pm to 3pm. OWLS (Outdoor Woodland Learning School) will be hosting an introductory play session on the day so parents and children can see what the sessions are like ahead of weekly sessions beginning at the garden on Wednesday 19 June.
The garden was transformed from an area of disused land in Torry by a team of volunteers and a £30,000 Participatory Budgeting City Council grant. Supported by ACC’s community team, they regenerated the land into a colourful haven between Tullos Place and Tullos Crescent.
The garden, complete with pathways and carefully planned planting, features a learning circle at its heart to enable outdoor sessions for local schools and groups.
Chairman of the group, Catrina Robb, said: Tullos Community & Wildlife Garden is a green oasis in the middle of Torry. The garden is for all the community to enjoy - it is fully accessible to buggies and wheelchair users, and we also have raised-beds for those with mobility problems who want to get their hands dirty doing some planting. We grow a wide variety of herbs & vegetables and these are available to the public.
Parts of the garden have been left over-grown as many of our bushes and trees are home to a range of birds, who can be heard singing & foraging in our birdfeeers. We have been busy on recent 'Dig Days' (look out for upcoming ones on our Facebook page ) planting a mixture of bulbs and flowers, and these should be in full bloom soon to add a splash of colour and beauty throughout the garden.
“We had a fantastic Open Day last year, with 150 attendees and a heatwave so let's hope our first year celebration is as successful - we hope to see you all there!”
Participatory budgeting is a process where local people directly decide how to spend part of a public budget in the community they live.
Most participatory budgeting projects follow a similar process where a pot of money is identified, residents or local groups suggest spending ideas/needs, delegates such as the City Council or a similar organisation develop proposals based on these ideas, residents will then vote on these proposals, and the most popular options are implemented. Aberdeen City Council’s participatory budgeting programme is known locally as UDECIDE.