Case Study Blooming Whiteway Front Garden Awards

Blooming Whiteway is a celebration of front gardens, no matter the size/number of plants. It is run by Claire Loder and Jude Rice, located on the Whiteway estate, close to Bath City Farm. They have a dream of making the area into a wildlife haven.

As interest for the Front Garden Award grew, so did the community spirit, local connections and other projects progressed alongside with the same values of enhancing the wild spaces in the area.

Claire has big ambitions to bring people into their front gardens more, as a way of connecting with others and boosting local biodiversity.

To make it easy and accessible for local residents to take part, free plants are available on Claires driveway. The recycling of materials is also encouraged to create containers and good gardening practices are explained via leaflets, social media and from face-to-face chatting.

Reaching all members of the community can be difficult due to different opinions, interests, lifestyles and gardening confidence. Claire knows that nature, soil health and wildlife gardening is good for everyone though, so she persevered.

TIPS: The best way to communicate this and get people involved is by celebrating what exists now, no matter how small a contribution to front gardening and to talk to people.

• Talk to people on the street, at events and community gatherings. Chat, connect and listen. Don’t preach!
• Deliver leaflets with more information, linking to social media and the website. A personal message was also sometimes added.
• Flags were added to people’s front gardens saying ‘we love your garden’.
• Signage really helped promote who and how many people were taking part.
• Digital communication backs up the real life connections. The website and social media explains what is happening and why.
• Claire has a ‘free plants’ table on her driveway.
• Holding a fortnightly meeting/event at the local park welcomes the community to enjoy the space and connect with others.
• Networking at local community events helped to plug the project further.

Registering the Group and Insurance : Blooming Whiteway is registered as a Community Organisation. Public Liability insurance is required/obtained for events only, such as their workshops and community events with Your Park etc.

RESOURCE: 3SG offers practical advice for charities and community organisations.

Land Owners: Half of the Whiteway estate is privately owned and half is owned by Curo, one of the largest land owners in the South West offering affordable rented properties.

Claire and local residents wanted to extend their front garden projects to local spaces, connecting the wildlife habitats. In order to get permission though, it was tricky to get clearance from the Council and also from Curo, as many procedures and maps were in place from the large organisations. A lot of time was spent on phone calls to find the right people to ask. It would also be helpful to be able to see green plans for the area, so that Blooming Whiteway could contribute to increasing the biodiversity in the area.

Challenge: Find the right people to speak to from the council or land owners
Advice: Keep going and seek advice from organisations, such as 3SG and check helpful resources. 
Result: Curo have changed their mowing regime as a result of Blooming Whiteway. Yes!

Funding has been granted from the following organisations: Kew gardens, Your Park, Tesco Bags of Help, Curo, BANES, Bathscape and local donations.

ADVICE: It is important to be resourceful – Clare and Jude over propagate to give plants away for free and source second hand tools, equipment and recycled containers.

Funding tends to go on compost, designs and events. They have purchased plug plants, but would rather use their gardening know-how to help educate others to propagate themselves. Local schools have forest schools to learn about this.

Time is a limiting factor in getting things done, as people live busy lives!

TIP: Plan for short term and long term goals, so that you gain satisfaction and see results to keep everyone motivated.

• Your Park community get together every third Sunday of the month in the local park space. Inviting people to use and enjoy the space, connect with local people and learn something about Blooming Whiteway events and awards and wildlife gardening in general.
• Arts
• Front Garden Awards – Gardens Alive 2022
• Memorial garden space
• Volunteering opportunities (inc trees)
• Groups such as the Twerton and Whiteway Community Network were good to reach new community members to ensure inclusion of all community members.