Liverpool

Grow Speke is an incredible garden oasis in the middle of a South Liverpool housing estate where people grow food, make friends and learn skills. It’s achieved so much in just a few years – but right now needs some extra support to get connected to the electricity grid.

This was a derelict place attracting flytipping, drug use and anti-social behaviour. Now there are extensive vegetable gardens, fruit tree orchard, polytunnel and lots and lots of bees in eleven beehives, thanks to the hard work of local volunteers. Local families in need benefit from donations of food grown on the site, and the garden is also a venue for training people in horticultural and construction skills. Local schoolchildren attend outdoor learning sessions where they can learn all about bushcraft and how food is grown. So much happens at Grow Speke – but there are plans for much much more! 

With electricity, power tools can be used and more training delivered. Food that’s grown in the garden can be cooked on the site – in demonstration and celebration events. A new classroom can be added with facilities for visiting schoolchildren. Floodlights can allow evening events. And volunteers and people dropping in can easily get a cup of tea! Getting electricity 100 metres across the site isn’t cheap: around £1300 for the cabling alone. 

We know that lots of the regular volunteers have really suffered with social isolation over the past year and we’re desperate to get the site properly reopened and reaching its full potential. There are all sorts of people involved in the project of all ages – but for those who are unemployed or have mental health issues the garden can be a real lifeline.

With some extra support, we can do so much more at Grow Speke for many more people.