Establishing a Green Community Hub in Hattersley
Background
Groundwork has been active in Hattersley since 2019, when we partnered with Onwards Homes with a shared ambition: to transform underused outdoor spaces into thriving community gardens while helping residents build new skills and stronger connections.
Over the past five years, we’ve supported local people to establish five community-led greenspace groups: Polperro Potters, Vitality Gardens, Mottram Rise, The Keep Well Garden and Hattersley Projects. Where needed, we provided hands-on support, helping with group structure and advising on funding applications. In 2024/25 the five groups successfully secured an additional £8,000 of funding.
In 2024, we brought the five groups together to form Hattersley’s first Green Community Hub through the Northern Network. The Hub’s steering group met for the first time in October, uniting 11 passionate residents around a common goal: making Hattersley greener, healthier, and more connected.
What do the community want to see?
Community Engagement
Groundwork got to work, running events where they could better understand residents’ interest in a Green Community Hub and what services they’d like to see as part of it.
Initial engagement activities have highlighted that the community would like to see:
- More green spaces being taken on and looked after by local people. Our team recently supported Polperro Walk residents (known as the Polperro Potters) to do this, reviving some beautiful planters and creating a new community garden!
Establishing a new Steering Committee
Our team held the first meeting with the new Hattersley Green Community Hub steering group in October.
These 11 fantastic volunteers will be helping to enhance Hattersley’s green spaces and engage the community, sharing some fantastic ideas to get the work started!
Our work so far
In January, we hosted a skills share session about water butts and how rainwater harvesting could benefit Green Community Hubs. Lou from Groundwork Yorkshire showed the group how barrels could be turned into makeshift water butts!
The steering group will be working with L.A.D.S., a small men’s mental health organisation, to create a wooden shed in an unused car park area next to Vitality Gardens (a community growing space). The area was recently cleared by the group and volunteers from Onward Homes.
The Polperro Potters were kindly gifted a new bench, created at HMP Forest bank through the GMCA Bootcamp Programme. The group are looking forward to getting together and sitting on it with a cuppa throughout the year!
The Hattersley Health Champions received funding to create 3 new raised beds, one with trellis to make a better border from the car park. They’ve also applied for another round of funding to create a similar bed next to it!
We supported the Hattersley Health Champions, Onward Homes and Rollinsons to complete a massive litter pick as part of the Great British Spring Clean, where volunteers collected a whopping 55 bags of rubbish!
The group have been working on their new storytelling space, creating a fence line and stools out of chopped down logs. The area is now ready for families to use during the summer months!
Community impact
Volunteers report feeling more confident and empowered through shared conversations and collaboration with like-minded people. Groundwork has also opened up new opportunities, including taking part in the Northern Network grant panel, where steering group members reviewed grant applications and learnt best practices from other Green Community Hubs across the region.
While challenges remain, particularly around recruiting new volunteers, the group has built strong friendships and a renewed sense of motivation. Many say they feel less isolated and more inspired for the future, knowing they’re part of something bigger than themselves.
What is a Green Community Hub?
Made possible thanks to funding and support from:
