By Anne Akers
Gatescroft allotments have been given another £500 to help rebuild accessible raised beds on the Carr Road site.
Morley Glass made the award from its Green Vision Fund to Calverley Horticultural Society which is looking to raise £6000 to replace the raised beds built near the entrance to the site. This is the second award to the allotments, they gave £500 last year which helped rebuild two of the six beds.
The site has 49 regular allotments, with another six accessible raised beds, built and funded by Leeds City Council 11 years ago. The wooden sleepers have rotted, with two of the beds virtually collapsing.
Nathan Crossley, treasurer of the society, which manages the allotments, said Calverley was one of the few sites in West Leeds to offer accessible beds, which were all let and had a waiting list.
The beds were very popular with people unable to cultivate regular plots as they were easy to access from the main road, and high enough to tend from a wheelchair or those with mobility issues. A plot had also been made available to the Brownies to give them hands-on experience of growing their own food.
With the awards from Morley Glass and others, two beds have been replaced with concrete bricks, which should last up to 50 years.
“We don’t have the funds to replace the beds ourselves, so we are appealing for cash to pay for the materials. We will do as much of the labouring work as we can to keep the costs down,” said Nathan.
“We are very grateful to Morley Glass for supporting us a second time, it means we can continue to offer accessible raised beds to those who need them.”
The society continues to appeal for cash help to re-build the remaining beds.