Gamble Street Corner

Whitemoor Garden Project

At Whitemoor Garden Project we grow veggies and flowers on an urban allotment for Nottingham's largest independent foodbank Himmah.

For 2 years our veggies and flowers have been distributed alongside emergency food parcels  to people in need in our city,  particularly in Radford and Hyson Green, postcode NG7 . 

Veggie and flower foodbank shares: (July 2022)

About Radford Nottingham NG7

• Radford is very diverse: 57% White British, 22% Asian/Asian British and 11% Black/African/Caribbean/Black Britishand15% of the population live in households reliant on means tested benefits
• 33% of children aged 5-15 yrs are living in poverty and 38% of children are obese
• 46% of elderly residents are in receipt of pension credit
• Life expectancy is 73 yrs (versus UK average 80 yrs)
• Radford is ranked in the top 15% most deprived wards (out of England's 7000+ wards)
• Radford ward has Nottingham's  2nd highest crime rate with almost half of all crime classified as anti social behaviour

Himmah

Himmah is a community based social justice initiative for poverty, race, and education equality, whose foodbank is located right in the centre of NG7. They run numerous community activities including the foodbank , a social supermarket, an education project, cooking classes, a school uniform project, a Salaam Shalom Kitchen and a racial justice program.  Himmah Website

Gamble Street Corner

The derelict plot of land we are transforming into a veggie garden is a stone's throw from the Himmah foodbank - a prime location for growing veggies and flowers that will be free to access for local people and a great spot for creating a beautiful space where volunteers, locals, foodbank users and friends can meet, grow and harvest fresh food, learn from each other and build community.

Map location and Street View of the Gamble St Corner plot:

We've been planning the Gamble St Corner project in collaboration with Himmah since Winter 2022 and we started clearing the ground together on 3rd Feb 2023. 

The project is lead by Paul from Whitemoor Garden Project and Elliott from Himmah Foodbank. So far we've had a garden crew made up of a mix of foodbank volunteers, users and friends who have come down to our Friday afternoon sessions and helped us to get the project off to a flying start!

Gamble St Corner on Day 1!  (3 Feb 2023)

GARDEN PLAN v1:

We'll divide the space up into about 12 short growing beds  separated by woodchipped paths,  and grow a mixture of veggies and flowers.                                     Special focus will go to crops that are prolific and abundant so that the garden has plenty to offer for the community. Crops like courgettes, tomatoes, climbing beans and salad leaves should provide a good long season while Cosmos flowers will be relied upon to provide an amazing display almost all year long no matter how many posies are picked by passers by!

OUR MURAL: 'Veggies for Radford'

• We'll create a huge mural for Gamble St Corner as a signpost for community action!
• The 'Veggies for Radford' Mural will  create : 
•  A COMMUNITY LOOK & FEEL, 
• A WELCOMING DESTINATION 
• A CLEAN & BRIGHT SPACE 
• A PLACE  PEOPLE WANT TO BE.

'Veggies For Radford' (scale plan) 

'Veggies for Radford' will be painted by the Gamble St Corner team. We have a few arty people in the crew to guide the way and we'll really keep strong the ethos of community action by doing everything ourselves!

('Veggies for Radford' is inspired by the awesome 'Fruit Salad' by Katherine Bernhardt which she painted on the on the Venus Gallery in Los Angeles in 2015.)

On Guerrilla Gardening:

The space we will transform is a derelict piece of land behind a car parts business - the land is on their deeds and part of their rent - it used to be maintained by Nottingham City Council but has not been touched for at least 5 years. In essence we are guerrilla gardening but with the consent of the tenant. 

Our vision for the impact of Gamble St Corner:

ACCESSIBILITY:  Allotments and gardening can be full of barriers & awkwardness - '  don't have the money/right clothes/tools/knowledge. 

THIS WILL BE URBAN VEG GROWING WITH NO BARRIERS

ENGAGEMENT:  People can engage with the garden however they like! No supervision, no rules, do some weeding, pick some tomatoes or flowers, just sit on the wall and enjoy the space.

WE'LL  BUILD A SENSE OF PRIDE IN OUR COMMUNITY

ATTACHMENT: People are increasingly detached from the food they eat, especially in deprived areas where the consumption of fresh veg is limited. We hope that the community seeing and taking part in growing veg and flowers on the street corner will create an affinity with veg!

 A COMMUNITY MORE LIKELY TO EAT VEGGIES!

INSPIRATION: Cleaning up a piece of wasteland in the community and growing food will be inspiring for the community.

‘I CAN DO THAT’ 

LEARNING: We'll show people how to harvest veg, how to look after it, how to grow it and maybe even cook it  through a program of  'WORKSHOPS ON THE CORNER' using the garden as a base.

PRACTICAL EDUCATION FOR THE COMMUNITY

So why do we need funding?

• To support our growing program - buying seeds, plants, compost
• To give volunteers the right gear - gloves and tools for safe working
• To paint and maintain our mural - paint, brushes and equipment
• To reach out to the community - flyers , signage
• To run workshops - e.g. buying materials for a growing workshop or ingredients for a cooking workshop

We really hope you're inspired by our story and plan for Gamble St Corner !

We want the garden to be a source of food, inspiration, learning and community in an area of our city that really needs the support.

Thanks for reading! 

PROJECT REWARDS: Thank you to all the amazing people and organisations supporting us with this project! Easiest and cheapest way to support our project is for just £5 and in return you receive a I LOVE Gamble St Corner pin badge!