A West Lothian garden centre is helping Livingston’s green spaces blossom this spring with the return of its Helping Your Community Grow initiative.
Launched in 2010, the Dobbies initiative encourages people across Livingston to take care of their green spaces.
For 2022, Dobbies is seeking local groups striving to help their community space flourish in a sustainable way.
Whether it’s a community allotment project to get kids eating more fruit and vegetables, a wildflower garden with pollinating flowers for bees and insects or a calming outdoor space for boosting mental health, Dobbies wants to help communities in Livingston transform their local areas.
Helping Your Community Grow is calling for local groups from all over Livingston to get in touch through an application form via Dobbies’ website, showcasing their community space that needs some attention and what they plan to do if they receive Dobbies’ support.
A successful group will be given advice, products and time to help transform their outdoor spaces, using their sustainable product ranges wherever possible. This could include peat-free compost, recycled and recyclable pots, UK-sourced plants and safer pest control products.
Graeme Jenkins, CEO of Dobbies said: “Community is at the forefront of what we do at Dobbies and we’re proud to be relaunching our Helping Your Community Grow initiative again this spring. We had a brilliant variety of applications last year in Livingston and it was great to see local community spaces, school vegetable patches and memorial gardens benefit from our support.
“This year we are particularly keen to hear from projects in Livingston who have a sustainable focus to their work and our teams will share their knowledge of sustainable products and practices, to ensure a truly eco-friendly approach.”
In addition to the regional winners of Dobbies’ Helping Your Community Grow initiative, one national winner will receive further support.
Claire Blowers from Noadswood PSA, the national winner from 2021, said: “We really benefitted from entering Helping Your Community Grow in 2021. We had invaluable support and advice from the team, along with products that enabled us to transform our space. I would highly recommend community projects submitting entries for this year’s initiative.”
Getting involved couldn’t be easier. Eligible projects must be located within 20 miles of a Dobbies store.
Applications are now open until March 25. For more information on how to take part, visit Helping Your Community Grow | Dobbies Garden Centres.
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