Big Plans for a Bigger Future
8 years ago, volunteers took over this derelict space in central Newquay and created Crantock Street Community Garden, which is used by hundreds of local residents and visitors every year. What was basically a derelict site, with no colour and hardly any plants, was an eyesore and not useable by anyone.
Since then, we've worked hard to improve the space, and it's now more vibrant and welcoming and well used by many in the community, but we're reached the limit of what we can do without significant investment.
This has been some time in the planning and 2025 is the year that we aim to achieve our ambitious plans, but we need your help to do this!
How You Can Help
The garden’s redevelopment will make it more accessible, more beautiful, and more engaging for everyone. But we need your help to make this happen!
There are several ways you can contribute to the success of the Crantock Street Community Garden’s redevelopment:
- Make a Donation: Your contribution, big or small, will help us reach our goal. Every pound counts in creating a better space for the whole community.
- Sponsor a Plant: You can personally sponsor a plant for the new garden. With every sponsored plant, you’ll be directly contributing to the garden’s new, sustainable landscape.
- Join the Raffle: Our Big Lunch raffle is always a fun way to get involved, and this year, we’re adding a special PRIZE DRAW online, where you can enter from anywhere. The raffle will be drawn at the Big Lunch event (Saturday 14th June 2025), and we’d love for you to be a part of the excitement! ENTER HERE
- Spread the Word: Help us reach more people by sharing our story with your friends, family, and neighbours. Together, we can build momentum to make this vision a reality.
The garden’s redevelopment will make it more accessible, more beautiful, and more engaging for everyone. But we need your help to make this happen!
Our garden brings people together of all ages and backgrounds, and builds strong relationships across the community. Our annual Big Lunch events are attended by 60 + people who have been aged 3 weeks to 103 years and we have had volunteer involvement from local faith groups, asylum seekers, Age UK users, WI and many young people have joined our regular gardening and planting sessions.
"I feel it would a wonderful opportunity for the tenants of Treffry Court to be able to enjoy the hopeful up and coming beautiful area, to gather, chat and enjoy seeing other people in their neighbourhood. I believe it would benefit so many, especially those that can’t walk far, it would reduce isolation and depression and get locals out of their 4 walls gathering again."
Intensive Housing Management Officer, Treffry Court.
'We’re excited by the prospective re-development plans for the community garden and think this will really benefit the local community, especially in relation to mental health and wellbeing.' Salvation Army, Newquay
Why are we crowdfunding?
We are now embarking on the huge task of completely redeveloping this community space, to improve the area for the use of residents and visitors and to encourage engagement with nature and enhance community wellbeing.
This has been over a year in the planning, and we have big ambitions! We have engaged Kim Parish, Landscapes of Distinction to lead on the design, planning and management of the project itself and secured funding from Cornwall Council and Newquay Town Council to pay her initial fees, as well as using funds we have raised from our amazing annual raffle.
Mood Board:
Outline Plan:
What we are funding
We will be levelling up the ground to make it accessible for buggies and wheelchairs, and make safe for all to use and laying resin flooring. With Kim, we have developed a detailed planting plan which includes easy maintenance plants, the colours of which are in keeping with the 'fire' theme as the Garden is the site of the old fire station. We will create a fire crest from reused materials.
You can watch a video of Kim presenting the planting plan on our YouTube channel (watch both videos to see the entire plan):
Gabion baskets with composite benches will act as a boundary to the pavement, making this a safe and partially enclosed space, with charred timber boundary posts (in keeping with the fire theme) in other areas. There will be a green space for events and picnics and our hope is to secure sufficient funds for a large sail over this area to provide shade and rain coverage.
Full plans and breakdown of costs and timelines to follow.
Funding
The aim is to raise £150,000 in total, which is required to achieve our ambitious plans. Much of this will be spent on the groundwork required to level up the space and lay resin flooring, as well as creating new beds, and buy plants that are suitably mature.
We have been working with Cornwall Council (CC) and Newquay Town Council (NTC) for some time, and have applied for £100,000 CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) funding from CC. They have shown their support for the project, but have given us a deadline of June 2025 to raise the additional funds before signing off the funding. (There are other requirements, which we have addressed).
In March 2025, NTC confirmed that we have been succesful in our application for £2,500 funding towards the project.
We have previously received £1,000 from Cornwall Council's Community Chest towards the design costs.
Full design details coming very soon! We recognise that our target is very ambitious, so we have options to scale down the project or do things in stages if we don't reach the total.
How we are fundraising
We are asking for contributions from local residents and businesses towards the development of the space, and need to raise as much as possible towards our £50,000 total by mid-June 2025 in order to release CIL funding.
You can either pledge an amount towards the campaign, or you can 'sponsor' specific plants in the new Garden (all plans are referenced in the brilliant YouTube video - link above and images below).
Raffle / Prize Draw
We hold a raffle annually at our Big Lunch Event and will be doing the same this year, but we have launched an online 'PRIZE DRAW' this year, where you can enter the draw. We will be drawing the raffle at the Big Lunch and hope to see many of you there!
More info here: Big Lunch 2025
Link to Prize Draw: Prize Draw
We need your support to make this vision a reality. Please get involved by donating, sponsoring some plants, buying raffle tickets and sharing this far and wide!
And, if you are a business who would like to support the redevelopment, either by donating materials or offering reduced costs, or by sponsoring the project, please do get in touch with us. [email protected]
Sponsor a Plant
We are giving you the opportunity to sponsor plants in the new garden. If there are some that you are particularly drawn to, there is an option to fund that plant on this page.
'Calendula officinalis'
'Emberglow'
Pennisetum thunbergii 'Red Buttons'
Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer'
Cornus alba 'Kesselringii'
Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire'
Oenothera lindheimeri 'Karalee White'