Fairwater Community Garden
‘A Celebration of People, Horticulture and the Arts’
Fairwater Community Garden runs along the length of Sbectrwm Community Enterprise Centre having transformed ground that was once an old school playground. It is an award winning community led horticultural project. It gives Vision 21 students the opportunity to be involved in the day-to-day running of a Community Garden.
The garden is open to the public during the day so the community can enjoy its features, such as:
- Fruit trees
- Living willow sculptures
- A wildlife Pond
- Raised vegetable beds
- A polytunnel
- A greenhouse
- Ceramic features and garden art
Students work alongside qualified staff and volunteers caring for this special environment and hosting events such as:
- Making bird houses and beneficial insect habitats.
- Horticultural workshops, for instance on how to prune fruit bushes and garden using organic principles.
The food is all grown using organic principles, without using any artificial pesticides or fertilizers, to make sure it as healthy to eat as possible. This way of growing food is much kinder to the environment.
Vision 21 is a member of the
Federation of City Farms and Community GardensArt in the Garden
When visitors first enter the garden it is often the environmental art that first catches their attention. The garden has very strong links with Fairwater Pottery and over the years the Pottery has contributed a ‘Flight Path’ leading to the garden portraying images and words about flying insects, mosaic benches, a floor mosaic, hand made pots, ceramic apples and screen printed signs that help to convey information about insects and the environment. The garden also has some living willow features which have been created with community involvement and some lovely painted signs -painted by local children.
Some of our aims:
- To encourage plants, vegetables, wildlife and the arts to co-habit within a sustainable environment.
- To encourage people’s appreciation, understanding and enjoyment of the natural environment through education, outreach activities and practical involvement.
- To train students with learning needs in horticulture and related skills.
- To create an environment that encourages wildlife into an urban area and to promote the ecological importance of the area.
- To provide fairness and equity of opportunity and to ensure that all members of the community are equally valued.
- That the project be used, and thereby valued, by the local community
Student Training – What you will learn
An Individual Training Plan (ITP) is developed for each student, this includes skills such as:
- The training programme covers the following:
- Ground preparation and preparing beds for seed/plant sowing
- Planting, weeding and tending of plants
- How to hoe, weed and water a planted area
- Identifying trees and shrubs
- Identifying common weeds, beneficial insects and pests
- Cultivating vegetables and plants using organic principles
- How to make and manage compost heaps
- How to identify, maintain and use garden tools
- How to use petrol powered equipment
- How to maintain a pond and willow beds
The Community Garden also carries out some garden maintenance for people living around the local area which students are involved in.
Accreditation
Accreditation is offered in the NPTC City and Guilds Skills for Working Life at Entry Level 2 & 3.
Soft Skills Development
The training at Fairwater Community Garden also delivers the Vision 21 soft skills development programme. In addition to developing horticultural skills the training focuses on developing self esteem and confidence, initiative, communication skills, working as part of a team, motivation, timekeeping, behaviour and reliability amongst others.
To refer a student to Vision 21
Following satisfactory completion of the referral process the student will undergo an induction to Vision 21 after which a ‘taster’ day will be offered to see whether the opportunity suits them. If this goes well students can attend The Community Garden for one or two days per week, occasionally more if appropriate, for an agreed time scale which will be reviewed regularly.
For more information on our referral process please see our
referral page.Health and Safety
Students who attend the Community Garden receive a health and safety induction including, safe use of tools, manual handling, risk assessment and fire safety awareness. Students can also be referred to our TAM project for additional life skills, employment and independent living guidance as appropriate.
Opening times
The garden is open to the public during daytime between 9am and 4pm.
Community Involvement
We welcome people to visit the garden at any time throughout the day. If you would like to become involved in any aspect of the project your help would be greatly appreciated. As the Community Garden is a training project, Vision 21 has developed a volunteer process for people interested in working alongside and supporting our students. If you are interested in volunteering in the Community Garden please refer to our volunteer page for more information.
Location and contact
Project Co-ordinator
Fairwater Community Garden
Sbectrwm Building
Bwlch Road
Fairwater
Cardiff
CF5 3EF
Telephone: (029) 2057 5837
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