Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2008 | Page 70

life

GARDENING

Adopt-a-Garden
scheme
The Isle of Wight leads the way in novel
way to marry gardeners with gardens
Many Islanders can no
longer look after their
gardens due to ill health
or old age, and volunteers
are hard to come by.
At the same time, there
is an increased interest
in gardening amongst
younger people, many of
whom have small gardens
or no gardens at all.
Moreover, there is also
a waiting list of over 500
people for Isle of Wight
Council allotments.
So why not adopt
a garden?
The Adopt-A-Garden
scheme has just been
launched to marry the
person who has a garden
they cannot look after
with the individual who
wants a growing space.
The householder will get
their garden looked after
for free and the gardener
gets a free allotment in
return. No money
exchanges hands
and either party
can give six weeks
notice at any time.
The Isle of Wight
Council encourages
anyone on the
allotment waiting
list to consider
this innovative
alternative.
The scheme may
have other add-on
benefits. The
gardener might
keep an eye on the
householder and
report any welfare

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concerns to the authorities.
New friendships might
be developed between
neighbours and across
the generations, said Ray
Harrington-Vail of the
Footprint Trust, which
is leading the project.
“The scheme could mean
that some of the Island’s
3,000 uncared for gardens
could be growing local
food for local people. This
fits very neatly with the
Council’s Eco Island vision,”
says Mr Harrington-Vail.
This pilot project will seek
to match up 50 gardens
with 50 gardeners over the
next 14 months. The Isle
of Wight Charitable Trust,
The Footprint Trust and
Anchor Staying Put have
contributed to the project.
Call the Trust on
822282 or email info@
footprint-trust.co.uk

Isle of Wight:
Best Kept
Village
Awards 2008
“It’s not about how big
your onions are. It’s
not actually to do with
gardening at all,” explains
Christopher Edgeley,
treasurer of the Isle of
Wight Best Kept Village
Awards. “Our aim really is
just to make a difference”.
Chris is a walker. He
walks through a lot of
villages, and the impression
that some give is very

poor. Litter is the most
obvious offence, but
whether a village green is
mown or whether fallen
tree branches are left to
rot can make a village
unnecessarily unti dy.
The idea for the Best
Kept Village Awards on
the Island came from
the Brading Women’s
Institute in 1968. Other
organisations, such as the

Photo: Brighstone Village

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