The Lancashire Wildlife Trust and Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust have been working in Witton Park, Blackburn for a number of years as part of their successful green wellbeing project, Myplace, which has been supporting people to grow their own food, learn more about the natural world and enjoy the outdoors.

Much of this work has taken place from the Myerscough College Blackburn Campus and whilst we have been able to put most of the site and surrounding areas to great use, the park’s old greenhouses have always struck us as a missed opportunity to do even more for the local community.

Andy Mather, Myplace Project Officer said: “The greenhouses are an amazing untapped resource that any city would love and have the potential to become an amazing community space for lots of exciting things to happen.”

Myplace is now working with Blackburn and Darwen Council and Sport England to breathe new life into the greenhouses. Our vision is for the greenhouses to be transformed into a growing, learning and wellbeing hub for members of the local community to enjoy.

Blackburn with Darwen’s Director of Public Health Dominic Harrison said: “It’s great to see a project encouraging people to get active outdoors in our wonderful green spaces.  Being physically active and close to nature has positive effects on both our physical and mental health.”

As part of this work, new volunteer and trainee positions will be created and we will also be able to host a range of free workshops and talks to teach people how to grow their own food at home. The surrounding outdoor space will also be cleared for vegetable beds, fruit bushes, trees and a relaxing seated area for people to unwind.

“As the greenhouses will be able to grow plants more used to warmer climates, we’ll be able to enjoy meals from the diverse cultures represented in the town and we hope that the greenhouses will bring people from different cultures together to share recipes and stories and enjoy local produce.” - said Andy.

We will also be able to support local organisations working with people at risk of food poverty to encourage wider growing, run cooking sessions to demonstrate how to use the food produced, as well as provide a much needed healthy meal for all those taking part.

The Wildlife Trust have been successful in securing funding to pay for a member of staff to set up and run the project but we are currently asking for public donations to help us make the greenhouses safe to use.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed so far. If you can donate to help us get this project off the ground, please visit our Crowdfunder page.