Three men from Bridgend have decided to take on the challenge of sorting people's gardens out if they have got out of hand. Ian Walters, Gavin Harvey and Paul Lewis have come together to give the Bridgend community a chance to ask for help by transforming their gardens completely free of charge.
Their services, known as Greenspace SOS, will all be free and will be aimed at people who have faced physical barriers that have stopped them from being able to make their most of their gardens, like elderly residents, but also for those who have just not had the time or energy to spend on giving their outdoor spaces some much-needed TLC. They all come from a business background, but feel now is the time to embrace the simplicity of local gardening.
The project was meant to be in the works for a few more months and launch in October, but as summer came closer Ian became intent on rolling the scheme out even sooner. The response so far has been overwhelming for the group of men involved, as they have had countless people sending messages of support. "We weren't expecting it to get this level of response," Ian said.
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"We've already got fourteen jobs lined up and I can't wait to get started. The benefits that gardens can have for people are incredible, because it can also really improve their wellbeing, being outside." Their first job will now be on April 29, as they go to a nursery to tackle the eight foot high bramble bushes that has accumulated for them outside.
The men are working on a nomination basis, where anyone can nominate a space, garden, or resident in their community that they think deserves some attention. This could be schools, community groups, allotments, elderly neighbours, and neighbours in poor physical or mental health. After choosing a space, Greenspace SOS will then undertake the service for free, clearing the overgrowth and creating a space that the successful nominee can then enjoy.
Ian, 39, is the owner of Walters Property Management and is passionate about creating high-spec properties in south Wales. Having that extra eye for detail, he has also had other successful business ventures including leisure facilities such as trampoline parks, a mobile vehicle valeting service, and professional domestic and commercial cleaning service ‘Blue Tree Cleaning’.
He is a founding member of ‘The Ruby Murray Club’, a community of Indian cuisine fanatics that visit and review Indian restaurants and share their experiences on their social media platforms. He is a passionate and motivational public speaker, but now his focus is on being outside and giving back to Bridgend when he can as he sets up to retire from full-time work.
"I love being outdoors and the other two are the same," he said. "We'd said it would be great to have something like this so decided to do it ourselves.
"We want to be able to do some one-off renovations so that it makes a real difference. It'll take a few hours every day when we're doing each garden I'd imagine but it will be worth it, and we're also hoping that we can open up this opportunity for other people who might want to volunteer to get involved.
"I’m a simple gentleman who loves grass. For me, personally, a garden can be somewhere to relax, and somewhere to do activities with the family. A good, simple lawn can offer so much happiness and opportunities for play.
"We've set up a Gofundme page as well, so if we can get the support on there or by other residents then hopefully keep doing this for a while. The main thing we want is to just provide these services for free."
The other people who are involved are also just as passionate about the project. Paul Lewis is the co-owner of ecoCaretaker Ltd, and after spending his apprenticeship years learning bricklaying he moved into facilities and landscape maintenance. Paul has studied practical horticulture with the Royal Horticultural Society, Facilities Management with the Chartered Institute of Facilities Management and Multi-Skilled Maintenance Operations with City and Guilds and has specialised in maintaining facilities and landscapes of extra-care homes.
Paul said: "“I like aesthetically-pleasing spaces, with clean surfaces and lines. Purposeful and functional. Your garden should serve its purpose. If you want somewhere to sit, or rest, if you want space to entertain guests, host barbecues, or throw children's parties etc, the space needs to accommodate that.
"The space should be safe, clean, welcoming, easy to navigate, and ultimately, enjoyed. With Greenspace SOS I look forward to offering worthy people and communities the spaces they need to live their best lives.”
Gavin Harvey is the founder of ecoCaretaker Ltd, the only zero-emission landscaping service in Wales. Gavin has worked on landscapes and greenspaces for 20 years and has studied practical horticulture with the Royal Horticultural Society, Facilities Management with the Chartered Institute of Facilities Management. He has also studied sustainable landscapes with the Keep Wales Tidy ‘Green Flag Award' and in 2020 won the Leadership award at the Chartered Institute of Housing awards for his work designing an environmentally-friendly landscape-maintenance service for a south Wales based housing association.
Gavin has a particular interest in nature-based, pollinator-friendly, wild gardens. He said: "I love to explore the relationship between good quality greenspaces and positive health and wellbeing. Multi-functional greenspaces can offer sensory opportunities, outdoor classroom opportunities. They can be interactive, they can be a place for nature, for mindfulness, natural play spaces for children.
"I do hate to see wasted greenspaces, so Greenspace SOS seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore these wasted spaces, reinvigorate them, and offer them to their local communities as valuable spaces for physical and mental health and wellbeing.”
The Greenspace SOS ethos aims to target unutilised greenspaces and improve them for the community, and is inspired by what is known as the ‘gorilla gardening’ movement, ‘phantom planters’, and similar services in America and Australia.
All of their projects will be filmed, edited and shared throughout their social media platforms to try and spread positive content. Their hope is that it will put a smile on people's faces as they scroll through their daily feed, and improve the sense of unison in and around Bridgend. To get Bridgend stories straight to your inbox, subscribe to our daily newsletter here.
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