I want to say a big thank you to all the plotters who turned out to help with the bonfire today. Thanks to the big turnout we were able to make a huge clearance of rubbish in record time.
A big thank you to all concerned.
I am sorry to say that our ace volunteers, Mike and Gordon are not going to be able to visit with us for the next wee while. Gordon is ’embargoed’ or whatever, as he needs to self-isolate from the Covid19 virus. Boy, are we going to miss them!
Well, we all have to do the right thing and help keep each other safe, but the volunteer sessions are just not going to feel right until we can welcome these two back. In the meantime a thousand thank yous for all your hard work and good humour. Take care boys, and keep washing those hands!
It was wonderful to see such a good turnout for our first Community Sunday of the year. Thanks go to all who found the time to come along and help with pruning, primary plot digging and lots more.
COMMUNITY SUNDAY
Just a reminder that this Sunday 15th March is the third Sunday in the month and that means it’s Community Sunday at the allotment site. Hopefully as many as possible will be able to come along and help for just an hour or so with various community activities around the site. Meet around 11am. As usual we will stop for coffee and cake at 12.30.
BONFIRE
We plan to have our annual bonfire on Thursday 19th March starting at 10am. If you are free please come along to help feed the bonfire with the vast quantity of plot waste to be burned.
This is your last chance this season to get rid of any scrap wood or raspberry canes, tree prunings etc. – no carpets or plastics.
Stuart — Plot 8
Momentum Skills were back helping on site today for the first of a new block of visits.
Sitting Left to Right: Aiden, Gemma, Stefan.
The gang put in a great shift on tasks around the site, but still found time for a good laugh in the bright, warm sunshine.
GFAA has secured funding which will allow the Bothy to be re-purposed and refurbished. We submitted a bid to NHS Grampian’s Neighbourhood Health, Health Improvement Fund and have recently heard that we have been successful.
Our entirely new initiative for the Bothy is called, “The Potting Shed Plus Project” and seeks to extend our long-standing commitment to active community engagement and spread the health benefits of outdoor working beyond those who have plots and out into the wider community. The “Plus” in the title refers to the fact that the project will support both Gardening and DIY learning activities.
This new project will provide a year-long programme of structured tutorials and associated open-access workshop sessions on gardening and outdoor DIY delivered through hands-on learning-by-doing.
During the summer months, tutorials and workshop sessions will focus on gardening skills and communal growing. Over the rest of the season, activities will focus on Do It Yourself work generally and specifically on small-scale woodworking and garden equipment repair projects.
These will aim to support an appreciation of being and working out of doors in nature and associated health benefits. Examples include: building greenhouse staging, planters, storage systems, benches and tables, bird boxes, cold frames, bug hotels etc. and repairing hand tools and other equipment. These will be used on site and made available to local community organisations.
The Potting Shed Plus Project will bring all sorts of benefits:
- healthy outdoor activities for all participants
- increased opportunities for our volunteers
- an inclement-weather workspace
- inter-generational learning activities
- better and greener-growing practices
- further recruitment to our Volunteer Squad
- bringing more visitors to our site
- use by plotters outwith scheduled classes and workshops.
If you think you might be able to help with the refurbishment work or the programme please get in touch with a member the GFAA Committee.
GFAA gratefully thank NHS Grampian for their support and funding of The Potting Shed Plus Project.
