The Whalley Rangers
Where it all began...
- Four years ago we decided to do a major litter pick in our neighbourhood Whalley Range as part of a major City Clean Up Campaign. 150 people got involved and we thank everybody with a party, show, music and free food. That’s when The Whalley Rangers ‘Love Where You Live’ took off.
- A community garden was set up in We set up a Community Garden in 2014, where local residents could come to a weekly gardening session to grow and eat their own produce.
- In 2015/6 through the Locality's First Steps, we developed the Withington Road Action Plan- which was in place to make the local high street more attractive, safer and vibrant.
- Last year our Fly Tipping campaign won us a "Be Proud" Award from the City Council. We also won 4 "Advancing" Awards from RHS In Bloom.
- In September 2017 we relocated to the Carlton Club for more accessible, permanent access. Our new community garden already has 65 volunteers inc. 20 young people.
The benefits to the local community
- Last year the Whalley Rangers collected 65 tons of rubbish and raised £4,750 for community led improvements including planters, a market, graffiti cleaning, a community/business crime reduction partnership and a successful campaign to get a bus service.
- The Withington Road Action Plan has been incorporated into the City Council's Ward Action Plan who have made improvements and increased the amount of times they clean the streets.
- Planters and planted areas are maintained by our community gardeners. We have a tool library, which residents can use any time.
- We meet every Saturday to sow, grow and plant flowers on the high street and at our community garden. We are a drop in for many who just want a chat, a cuppa and somewhere they feel they belong.
Be Involved!
It’s important to go to all the events that are being advertised - be it involved, whether it is your local church fair to local schools; make yourself known.
Tap into different groups of people, especially retired people who like gardening as they have more time on their hands and the knowledge!
Connect with your local garden centre, they can be a great source of knowledge and even resources if you're lucky! Hulme Community Garden Centre donate us items, but we also enjoy their annual events where we can meet other gardeners and share ideas and contacts.
The future
- We have got an exciting year but it involves lots of hard work! The grounds of our community garden is a disused bowling green and it is surrounded by hundreds of concrete flags which have been lifted by the many old trees around it. The walls are falling down and the building is in need of repair.
- From mid April we will offer free gardening and craft session to children after school during the week, as well as our weekly Saturday session, thanks to a successful application to Grow Wild.
- We are currently building raised beds and the aim is to establish several different sessions for different groups, from young to old, for different skills and abilities.
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Community gardens across the UK are not only growing rapidly in numbers but are also doing incredible work, transforming lives as well as the land itself. We would love you to join us now.