An award-winning Perthshire environmental group has been granted more than £60,000 to redevelop a community garden.
The money, which has been secured from the Scottish Government’s Shovel Ready Fund for the community through Blairgowrie and Rattray Development Trust (BRDT) – working with Blairgowrie and Rattray in Bloom – will go towards installing utilities and other facilities such as paths, greenhouses and raised beds at Rattray Community Garden.
The Mount Ericht community garden was purchased for Blairgowrie and Rattray in 2021 thanks to support from the Scottish Land Fund.
Although a significant amount of work has already been undertaken in the garden, including clearing a number of years of overgrown vegetation – discovering two outbuildings in the process – this funding will enable further progress to be made towards the goal of providing a safe and secure environment for people of all ages.
Those behind the project aim to create a welcoming, relaxing area where local groups can meet, supporting their health and wellbeing, reducing social isolation, developing gardening skills, and observing wildlife.
It is also hoped it will help to facilitate activity and educational sessions between the generations, reduce food poverty by developing and maintaining an area – including raised beds – to grow fruit and vegetables for those in need, and increase biodiversity with careful management and planting.
Mary Birch, chair of Blair in Bloom, is delighted with the news.
She said: “We have struck gold with this plot, which used to be a walled garden for Mount Ericht House, and what we hope we can achieve here will be a shining example of what can happen when a community pulls together.
“As volunteers we all have different skills but we have a clear vision of how we see the future of this space and we are committed to making a positive difference to the town.
“Unlocking the potential of this wonderful asset and establishing a hub for food production, education and wellbeing, while contributing to efforts to achieve net zero, will benefit the whole community.
“We are very grateful to the Scottish Government for its support of our efforts through the Shovel Ready Fund, and are ready with our shovels to get working on this phase of the redevelopment of the community garden.”
Teresa Donaldson, BRDT chair, commented: “Blairgowrie and Rattray is Scotland’s first biodiversity town and this project will contribute to that initiative – and to efforts to improve the environmental sustainability of the town – by providing a carbon neutral community garden.
“It will also bring together businesses, groups, volunteers and residents, building a sense of community and tackling isolation and loneliness.
“The purchase and redevelopment of the community garden was highlighted as something that local people wanted as part of an extensive consultation exercise carried out in 2020, the results of which formed the basis of an updated community action plan for the town.
“A number of local groups and organisations, as well as schools in the town, have already expressed an interest in being involved in the community garden, which is fantastic to see.
“Thanks to the Scottish Government’s Shovel Ready Fund, we are now able to dig in and see this project come to fruition, creating a safe and sustainable place for future generations and helping people to enjoy the health benefits of gardening and being in a garden.”
Work on this phase of the project is due to start at the end of September and is expected to be complete by the end of March next year.
Further fundraising is currently under way for the refurbishment of an existing building to form a general purpose room, toilets and a small kitchen, and a new storage shed.
