You’ll find the LEAP Centre between Ashton-under-Lyne and Audenshaw in Tameside. From this base, the LEAP Children, Families & Communities charity works with local people to provide a whole host of services like a pre-school nursery, a child and family contact centre, parenting and domestic abuse support, therapeutic horticultural projects and adult reading and literacy programmes.

We visited the LEAP centre to celebrate the official opening of their Community Wellbeing Garden project, where they have used the Green Spaces Fund to develop a peaceful garden and improve the green spaces around their building. On the day, they also unveiled a memorial bench honouring the life of LEAP Trustee Tony Berry. 

It was a beautiful day full of fond memories, the promise of new growth, and lots of tea and cake. We sat down with JoJo McColl Parry, LEAP Green Services Manager, to talk about the impact their project has had in Tameside:

1. Hi JoJo. Can you tell us about the backstory of your project? 
 

LEAP Children, Families & Communities is one of Tameside’s longest established charities and has been changing lives for over 20 years. 

We provide a range of community-led services, projects and interventions designed to support and enable some of our most vulnerable residents including children, their families, adults with learning disabilities, adults experiencing loneliness, isolation, lower-level mental health needs and those experiencing domestic violence.

The idea for the garden was inspired by our green wellbeing projects on allotments, as we have seen benefits that nature has on people’s health and wellbeing. We wanted to develop a space for the community to use, as there is little attractive and safe green space in the area, and many of the families that use our services don’t have gardens of their own. 

We needed the funding because, as a charity, we didn’t have the budget to spend on such a large project. Our LEAP Green Services team have worked incredibly hard to pull the project together with the help of many volunteers from our organisation and the local college, as well as corporate volunteers. 

2. What did you hope to achieve with your project? To what extent have you been able to accomplish your goals? 

We wanted a safe, accessible, calm and welcoming environment that could be used through the seasons. Our work often sees us supporting people through very challenging times, and we knew a tranquil garden would be appreciated.

The project has helped us develop the spaces all around the perimeter of our building, from the nursery at the side and the gardens at the front, to the shaded alleyway behind. We have made provisions for all weather use by building a shed and a large gazebo to protect from the sun and the rain, so people can enjoy the space whatever the weather. The garden has enabled people to learn new skills and make friends, as well as reducing loneliness and isolation and improving people’s mental and physical health. 

We’re so proud of the transformation from a blank, boring canvas to a beautiful green space, and the children and families coming in every day are loving it.

We have achieved far more than we set out to, but as with any garden there is always more to do!  

3. Have you any good statistics you can share with us? 

In total we’ve planted eight trees, over 500 different plants and over 1,000 bulbs around the garden, thanks to over 800 hours of volunteering time!

We’ve hosted organisations such as Timberland, Booking.com and Co-op for corporate volunteering days which have been a huge help. Tameside College have helped with building us a new wall and fence, which took over 2,000 hours and the students have gained valuable real work experience. 

4. What is the biggest impact that your project has had?  

Probably the sheer scale of what we’ve done. We have created a much larger area of useable space: the area behind the building was a waste ground, but now it has a seating area, growing space and potting shed that groups can use.

The nursery play area is much more nature-focused with natural materials and has provision for more time outside whatever the weather. The front garden is attractive and provides covered and outdoor space for play, education, relaxation and mindfulness. 

The children can now have hands-on nature experiences every day, and parents dropping off their children can enjoy a small pocket of nature with each visit.  

5. What has been the most challenging aspect of bringing your project to life? 

Capacity to complete the project was sometimes tricky as there was no budget for labour. We have been very fortunate that we have had a lot of volunteers to help, but due to the nature of volunteering, everything takes longer than you expect, and you don’t always have the specialist skills required for certain work. 

We have been working with Tameside College to give the students real life working experience in joinery and construction. This has been great and a huge help to us, but keeping to the planned timeline, weather delays, college holidays and exams have presented a few obstacles along the way.  

6. What’s coming next? 

We have started a group called ‘Sister Shed’ which was set up to empower local women. Some may have experienced domestic abuse, suffer from low self-esteem or loneliness, or just want to make friends and enjoy nature. 

We are building on community engagement and participation to maintain the area, to make sure the garden stays in great shape. 

We are also developing a community edible garden next to our car park to allow the residents to harvest fresh produce. One of our volunteers was exhibiting a “long border” show garden at Tatton Park show last summer and has donated the garden to LEAP for the community to enjoy.

Notcutts garden centre have sponsored this and have helped with the transport and replanting of the garden. It looks fantastic and a great addition to our green space. 

7. How has the funding from the Green Spaces Fund aided your project? Would you recommend it to others? 
 

We have been able to develop the area solely due to the funding.

As a small charity we simply didn’t have the funds or resources to develop the outside space.  With the help of the Green Spaces Fund, we have created a community garden and developed the children’s area for our pre-school nursery.

We’ve also made a safe enclosed space for vulnerable children and adults, and a space where parents can spend time outdoors with their children that they don’t live with during our family contact sessions. We would highly recommend the Green Spaces Fund. 

8. What advice would you give to a group in Greater Manchester who wanted to launch their own Green Spaces Fund project? 

Start the project as soon as possible, the time goes by very fast! 

The reporting process is very detailed, so monitor and collate everything and keep it all accessible. Also, ask your Green Spaces Fund Advisor for help if needed; they and the funders have been supportive. 

Be flexible: have a Plan B because things change and crop up all the time. 

9. How can people get involved if they’d like to know more about your project?  

Thursday morning is a drop-in gardening session, so check out our Facebook page for more info. 

We offer volunteers days to groups on LEAP projects or local community projects.

Our email address is Leap@leapcfc.org, or you can call us at 0161 2148300.