Gerddi Bro Ddyfi Gardens
Our History
The project began in 2008, when founders Kate Doubleday and Leigh Munton were running a series of short horticultural courses and realised there was no way for people to carry on gardening in a social way. Over the next nine years they worked together with a team of dedicated volunteers and local residents to build raised vegetable beds, a shelter, a pond, a wildflower meadow and many other features, creating a beautiful, therapeutic wildlife community garden
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Most of this took place during a combination of weekly drop-in sessions and one-off projects and workshops, which were open to anyone who wanted to learn more about things such as wildflower and insect identification, tool repair and maintenance, scything, willow-weaving, seasonal planting, and much more.
Since 2015 we have received the prestigious Green Flag award every year, as a recognition of how well we manage this important green space for the benefit of the community.
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In 2019 we were awarded our biggest grant to date, with £99,603 from the National Lottery Community Fund. This allowed us to solidify our core offering of weekly Social and Therapeutic Horticulture sessions, guided by our staff Angela Paxton and Anita O’Flynn. During this time, we ran a series of community events such as our Pollinator Festivals, Meadow days, and Tree festivals.
Building on this successful period, the project continues to grow and thrive today with the Fern Towers and Jeanette Gray now at the helm. We are supported by a talented voluntary committee, who help with the general administration and fundraising behind the scenes. The organisation has received grants and donations from a wide range of funders and private donors over the years, who you can read more about on our ‘Funders’ page.
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In 2022, we became officially registered as a CIO charity.
