Project background

Common Ground is a community garden in Conduit Street, Gloucester, maintained by The Nelson Trust, in partnership with GCF. The garden is accessible and inclusive of the local community and open to everyone using or working for The Nelson Trust.

The Nelson Trust, a UK registered charity, provides residential rehabilitation and community services to support people affected by addiction to achieve long-term recovery and lasting change.

After GCF was gifted the land by a donor we took the decision to ensure the garden could continue to be used by the Nelson Trust and neighbouring charity GARAS, rather than see the land sold and turned into a car park. Then thanks to international law firm, Charles Russell Speechlys (CRS), who generously donated their services to prepare the land lease agreement, the land was entitled the Nelson Trust to use as a community garden.

We are also extremely thankful for the support that we have received from Tania Hitchins and Robert Hitchins Limited helping get this project off the ground.

“The project is a fantastic example of the charity and private sector working together for the benefit of their local community”
Talitha Nelson, Gloucestershire Community Foundation CEO.

Members of the CRS team, one of our donors Tania Hitchins, our CEO Talitha Nelson with Project Manager Sam Wingfield from the Nelson Trust, on a visit to the garden in February 2024.

The project today

Since then the garden has come on in leaps and bounds, emerging from a hard landscaped area at the beginning of the year, to a blossoming haven full of potential for the many community users, including from the Nelson Trust and local schools which lack proper outdoor space for their children to use.

We were delighted to go along to the Open Day for the garden in July, to meet some of the wonderful team that have made the garden what it is today.

The garden provides an outdoor space for staff and volunteers to work together as well as providing a calm and serene space for the local community; focusing on three key areas of engagement, the landscape, client volunteers and community involvement.  The development of the communal common ground will rewild and encourage edible biodiversity for the benefit of the community.

The project will engage with the Nelson Trust’s beneficiaries and volunteers; using therapeutic horticulture to empower, enthuse and give practical knowledge and transferable skills to enable the transition into paid or voluntary work.  It will also provide a physical resource for local residents and the wider community, allowing them to engage and participate in the development of the garden.

Samantha Wingfield, the Community Garden Manager, says that “By improving the visual and physical appearance of the land it will enrich biodiversity in the local environment. The design plan uses existing features within the garden to their best advantage; enabling fruit and vegetables to be grown and using flowers to improve aesthetics and health.”

Project future

The garden is testament to the kind and generous donors and volunteers that have supported the project since it began. But it’s not finished yet…There are more plans for the garden, to ensure that volunteers have a dry area during wet weather and solar powered energy for lighting and cooking.

If you would like to make a donation to contribute to the garden and benefit the local community, please follow the link to our DONATE page and select ‘Community Garden’ in the drop down box.

Thank you