RHS: Britain in Bloom - Breckfield Case Study

In an area with some of the highest incidences of health problems in the country, such as heart disease, breast cancer and asthma, creating a community garden that encourages healthy living has proved to be the lifeblood for local residents.

The Breckfield North Community Centre in the Everton district of Liverpool was built in 1996 on the site of the old Gas Board. The large area of land at the rear of the building contained a mixture of concrete slabs, old mattresses and even some discarded engine parts. Through wide-reaching community involvement, the land has been transformed into a garden that includes an interactive nature trail, greenhouses brimming with salad crops, vegetable patches, a wealth of fruit trees, as well as a memorial garden.

According to the Community Centre Project Manager, Frank Prendergast, the garden has helped to keep community spirit alive and well in the area.

“In collaboration with our local PCT, we provide clinics here at the Centre for pulmonary heart disease care, a baby inoculation clinic and a ‘Walking Back to Health programme’. We wanted to encourage Centre users to go out into the garden, stay a while and talk to other visitors and get some interaction going. Some of the older men involved with the walking club had previous experience working on allotments and by combining this with the men's health programme, we decided to develop the derelict land at the back of the community centre into a healthy living environment and tapped into funds from ‘Living Spaces’ to help us do it.”

Franks says that by harnessing the talents of local people, they feel that they have more influence over their surroundings.

“The nature trail was created by the probation service as a way for offenders to carry out their community service; 10 volunteers run the allotment project; our vocational college sends young horticulturists once a week to work on the garden as part of their coursework and 12 young people working in an environment project designed the colourful wooden dragons that feature in the nature trail.”

“The design of the nature trail focussed on educational benefits. We wanted to create a path that would stimulate all the senses, so we’ve planted aromatic plants such as lavender and rosemary that release their scent when you brush past. There are buddleias to attract bees and butterflies, stepping stones embossed with images of wildlife such as squirrels and foxes, and the local school children have come to take rubbings off them as part of their classwork. Hedgehog boxes, bird boxes and feeders are paced along the trail to try and educate the school children about living in harmony with wildlife in this urban setting. The decking and paths make the whole area accessible to disabled users.”

“Taking part and getting recognition for all the community work through the Britain in Bloom Neighbourhood Awards has been absolutely vital”, says Frank. “The young people involved in this project may have never had a certificate for anything before, so being presented with this gives them a real sense of achievement and we have the certificate on display in the Reception area for everyone to see.”

“We try to give people a sense of pride and get them involved. It makes you feel fantastic to be part of something like this that is giving so much back, and we want everyone to feel that way about their community.”

Breckfield Case Study

Breckfield North Community Centre, Liverpool

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