Jim Henderson, our It’s Your Neighbourhood Assessor has passed on his assessor report. It makes very good reading. Jim visited our site in early August and was clearly impressed with many of our activities: he awarded us a second to top-level grading and considered us to be ‘thriving’.
It is clear that all our allotment holders have contributed to this success for GFAA as Jim remarked on the big number of well looked after plots he saw as well as the well maintained communal areas of our site.
Here are some highlights from the report:
We scored 32/40 points for community participation with special mention made of help for novice plotters; our community orchard; support for TAMS; the RGU connection; social and communal activities to maintain the site; and our occasional training courses.
We scored 25/30 points on evidence of environmental responsibility, getting a special mention for our promotion of composting; waste management; encouragement of educational projects from primary to university level; use of natural materials and approaches to deal with problem areas; encouragement of wildlife with bird feeders and insect boxes around the site.
Gardening achievement scored 25/30 with praise given for the variety of fruit, veg and flowers grown across the site; the sharing of advice and plants; development of wild flower areas; and the use of small plots to help new plotters.
Jim indicated he looks forward to seeing more of the exciting new project with Broomhill Primary School and the raised bed plots planned for development with RGU in the Community access area. His score of 82/100 leaves us within striking distance of the ‘outstanding’ level on our very first attempt, so we have a clear target for the coming season.
A big thank you to all who contributed to this success on their own plots and on communal areas and to our principal partners, including the City Council and RGU. It is very pleasing to see our combined efforts recognised within the IYN scheme and we hope this success will encourage even wider participation and more new projects in the coming year.
Thanks to Helen, Heather, Ruth, Karen, Bruce, Keith, Michael and Norman for their efforts on the day. We all agreed it was great fun being outdoors on a fine winter’s day, but retreating to the bothy for fancy pieces, hot drinks and a good natter was even better.
Thanks too, to Marion, Jacqui and Helen for the fancy bakes that put Mr Kipling well into the shade.
