By Jim Corah
May and June will see blooming good volunteering opportunities with Kirkstall in Bloom.
Sessions start at 10.30am on both Bank Holiday Monday, 8 May 2023 and Saturday, 3 June 2023. Details on Facebook and instagram.
New and previous volunteers are always welcome to help care for our community garden spaces in the centre of Kirkstall.
No experience is necessary, we will provide tools, guidance, and an opportunity to develop your skills and connect with your community.
Kirkstall in Bloom held a session in the Drink and Be Grateful Fountain Garden on Saturday 22April 2023 for an important task for our plants.
Around the end of winter and the start of spring the garden is bursting with daffodils and other early risers. After they have flowered it is important to treat them well so they return healthy and well next year. This involved bending the stems over so each plants nutrients returned to the bulb.
Our April session welcomed our third new volunteer of 2023. At our AGM/planning session earlier this year we agreed a target of two regular volunteers by the end of the year, as a group we are very aware that we need to recruit to keep blooming in Kirkstall.
It is encouraging that making these messages consistently continue to demonstrate the multiple benefits of volunteering.
Hannah, our chair, Iola, Becky, treasurer, and I were joined by Amy who had seen an invitation posted on a local community group on Facebook.
As secretary for Kirkstall in Bloom on the day I was also interviewed by MA Journalism students Phoebe and Laveena from Leeds Beckett University about volunteering, the work Kirkstall in Bloom does, and the benefits to the community and the volunteer.
Volunteer gardening sometimes feels like it is always focused on the future. We plant flowers that flourish months later, we plan displays that take a year to bed in. Over the coming months Kirkstall in Bloom have wonderful events planned for our community to enjoy the public garden spaces at the heart of Kirkstall.
Kirkstall in Bloom are hoping to host one of the artists during Kirkstall Art Trail on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 July 2023. We will also be celebrating the 11th year of Kirkstall in Bloom in July.
On a personal note this summer will mark my first decade of being involved in the Kirkstall community, and I’d like to thank Kirkstall in Bloom, West Leeds Dispatch, Kirkstall Art Trail, and other groups for opportunities over the last ten years.
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