Local groups in Edinburgh and Lothians to receive support for their green space as part of national initiative
Dobbies, the UK’s leading garden centre, has revealed the community and charity groups across the UK that will receive support to help transform, restore or start their indoor or outdoor green spaces this year, including Silvermills for little dobbies Stockbridge and Newtongrange Community Garden in Midlothian for the Edinburgh store.
Over 660 groups applied to Dobbies Community Gardens when it opened in March. Each Dobbies store selected their local project to support from the nominations that were made. Nominated projects from Edinburgh and the Lothians were invited along to the in-store Grow How session on Saturday 4 May when the winners were unveiled.
Silvermills and Newtongrange Community Garden will now receive a one-on-one session with Dobbies’ colleagues in the Stockbridge little dobbies and Edinburgh store to kick-start the activity, and the team will support the winning group right the way through their project. In addition to receiving products, tools and plants, there will be volunteer hours allocated to help bring the project to fruition and keep their outdoor space blooming.
Silvermills is a local community group that plans to rejuvenate an unused area of Stockbridge with colourful flowers and plants to brighten the space and create a place for the neighbourhood to come together.
Newtongrange Community Garden hopes to use Dobbies’ expertise and support to expand the garden and provide more accessible beds to the growing area to make the garden more inclusive for those looking to grow fruit and vegetables.
The group’s aim is to help those in the local area suffering from food poverty and improve social isolation by bringing people together.
Recent research* from Dobbies by Censuswide found that 71% of Brits say being close to nature helps them relax, highlighting the importance of initiatives like Dobbies Community Gardens to help green spaces thrive.
Dobbies’ colleagues are passionate about gardens and plants, championing garden living all year round to create experiences that bring people and communities together.
Nick Anderson, Dobbies’ Operations Director, is thrilled with the response to Dobbies Community Gardens. He explained: “We are really pleased to have had so many community groups get in touch looking for support with their green spaces.
“The Stockbridge little dobbies and Edinburgh store had the responsibility of picking a community group to back this year, choosing Silvermills and Newtongrange Community Garden as its winners.
“We’re looking forward to seeing these outdoor green spaces flourish over the year.”
For more information about Dobbies work in the community and to see this year’s Dobbies Community Gardens’ winners, visit dobbies.com/community-gardens
*The research was conducted by Censuswide with 2007 natrep consumers in UK 16+ between 22 March-25 March 2024. Censuswide abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society, which is based on the ESOMAR principles and are members of The British Polling Council.