New Brighton Community Gardens

Our Community Gardens has been running since 2005, our Trustees were motivated by the idea of providing hands on learning about how to grow very low cost, quality food.

Today the gardens is a hub of activities where volunteers contribute their time in the garden in exchange for fresh vegetables. Not only to they receive fresh vegetables but also met new people and learn more about looking after our environment.

People of all ages and abilities volunteer and visit, including many families, people with intellectual or physical disabilities and local schools. As well as inspiring and educating people about growing their own healthy food, we support our volunteers through life’s stresses and give them opportunities to make new social networks.

We believe that the New Brighton Community Gardens bridge gaps, reduce stress and foster social integration between otherwise segregated groups by bringing people of diverse races/ethnicities, cultures, religions, socioeconomic classes, genders, ages, and educational backgrounds together to participate in shared activities with a common purpose.

Various school and preschool groups participate in the activities here at the gardens. We run a Propagating Young Gardeners program which runs for 10 weeks and involves 6 or 7 local schools catering for up to 50 children. In this programme we teach cooking from the garden. Making for example Potato Puffs, Silverbeet Quiche, Kale Chips. Children have a group garden plot and learn all the different ways of planting and soil maintenance. Also children take part in garden art ie making mosaic tiles, bird feeders, water gauges etc.