Myself and Denise had a fantastic meeting on Friday 16th February. Denise is a community activist and a vocal proponent of Community Assemblies, local democracy and climate justice, and it’s fantastic that she’s onboard with the Hope Garden.

Here’s my very rough notes from the meeting. The deadline for the Local Places for Nature Capital Fund grant application is 12th March, so there’s a fair amount to do.

Overview

1. Ask collaborators and beneficiaries for testimonials
2. Contact more community groups for possible collaboration
3. Put together estimate and budget for garden
4. Organise series of workshops as part of garden creation

Workshops

It is fitting that the process of creating the Hope Garden design uses Commmunity Assemblies. To help out, I’ve updated the definitions page, outlining the structure of a Community Assembly.

I really feel workshops should be at the centre of the process, so that not only is the garden co-designed, it is also co-built, and all the participants take something away. It is particularly useful, because what I’d like to see is the Hope Garden as a kind of a template that other community groups can copy and improvise on. So the more feedback we get for the design and the creation, the better, as it should be more accessible to others.

Here are the ideas for workshops:

1. Site survey (baseline) Yusef? Plan for follow-ups
2. Co-design, 3 workshops. Invite Pemb ecology & education as participants. Invite for inputs:
   1. Wildlife Trust - biodiversity foundation
   2. Keep Wales Tidy - Pob, for practical considerations of creating garden
   3. BlueGreenCymru - Phil, hands-on running outdoor workshops & meeting area
3. Landscaping
   1. Ophelia? Hard landscaping
   2. Planting & pruning - Martin?
   3. Benches - David Hunter

Also, what are the standard rates for running workshops? Will ask Martin.

Local economy

Nurseries

• Kore Wild Fruit Nursery
• Ty Rhos Trees
• The Wildflower Nursery
• Celtic Wild Flowers

Craftspeople

• David Hunter, The Coppice Plot
• Martin Hayes, orchardist
• Oly Sullivan, Preseli Landscapes
• Jake Rayson, Nature Works
• Kingsley Hudson, woodworker
• Jamie Miller, Ty Pren