Locals, volunteers and organisers were among the crowd that gathered for the official opening of the new community garden in Horsforth Hall Park this weekend.
Cllr Emmie Bromley (Lab, Horsforth) cut the ribbon on the garden, which is situated adjacent to the Japanese garden in Hall Park, and is a space for growing produce as well as learning about gardening.
Cllr Bromley said: “I feel really honoured to be able to open this garden and I’ve seen from the beginning the absolute effort and sheer energy and focus put into this. Thank you to all the volunteers involved in this.”
The seeds for the community garden were sown four years ago, the idea of keen gardener and Horsforth resident Janet Little.
Claire Evans is the ABCD Community Builder. She said: “Janet Little came to me with the idea of a community garden back in March 2021 and four years later here we are at the opening of this very special place.
“Janet soon met others who shared her vision to create this amazing garden that has already benefited so many people in Horsforth – schools, nurseries, childminding groups, our neighbourhood network scheme and uniform groups have all visited to learn about growing organically and sustainably.
“What’s so wonderful about projects like this is when people connect over a shared passion they don’t just create something they also form lasting friendships. All of which I believe benefits our community.”
Janet Galvin is the Secretary of the Friends of Horsforth Hall Park. She said: “Four years ago a group of us came together. We didn’t even know each other at first but over the last four years we’ve become friends.
“We’ve got some amazing people in our team; dedicated, enthusiastic, committed, hard working and it’s been fulfilling and inspiring to work alongside them.
“We’d like to thank the park staff, especially Andy Wilson. Today’s also about saying a big thank you to all our sponsors and the generosity of the community that supported us when we were doing the crowd funding.
“We want to become a beacon to others to show that volunteering and building communities can achieve great things. And we want to promote the importance of growing food locally and organically. We want to encourage the next generation to carry on growing and using the park.”
A buffet was provided at the event by Truly Scrummy, sponsored by Horsforth Community Cafe, and music was provided by Richard Stirland.
Pictures for the display were provided by pupils from Newlaithes Primary School and 7th Airedale Beavers for a competition to design mosaic panels to go on the raised beds.
In January Horsforth Community Garden were awarded a Heart Of Horsforth Award by Horsforth Town Council, winning the Volunteering Award (over 21s).
Cllr Simon Dowling, chair of Horsforth Town Council, presented the award.
He said: “This group of people have been fantastic in transforming a part of Horsforth Hall Park into a lovely garden and it’s bringing benefit to a lot of people within the area. Getting a lot of people out and getting a lot of people interested in gardening.”
Volunteers are always welcome to join and the group meet every Thursday afternoon from 1.30pm to work in the garden.
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