The Gardens has been awarded a multi-annual grant of £149,685 by the Big Lottery Fund towards our volunteering and learning programme. Annually the programme will offer volunteering and learning opportunities accessible to local people of all ages and abilities during week days and weekends. A self-directed volunteering opportunity called Volun-tours will also train and support local people to become story tellers providing guided tours of the gardens revealing their hidden layers of meaning and inspiring visitors to get closer to nature.
The Hidden Gardens is a multi-award winning public greenspace operated by The Hidden Gardens Trust offering free access to citizens of Glasgow and beyond, six days per week. The Gardens also offer a programme of creative and engaging activities to promote community integration and intercultural dialogue.
Over the last 15 years it is estimated that over 800 people have benefited from volunteering opportunities in the Hidden Gardens; encouraging people of all ages, abilities and ethnicity to spend more time outdoors, together and to learn new skills and make friendships along the way. This grant award will help the volunteering and learning programme to grow, increase opportunity for local people to participate in greenspace, learn new skills, make new connections and friendships and improve health and wellbeing.
The Gardens depend on the support of Trusts, Foundations and public funds to be able to deliver a programme of work to engage communities of need and those members of society that are all too easily forgotten or seldom heard.
The Hidden Gardens Trust Chair, Melanie Sims, said: “The Hidden Gardens Trust wants to express their sincere thanks to the Big Lottery Fund for this vital funding towards its expanding volunteering programme for the next three years. The programme will make a significant difference to individuals and groups within the local community.
“The programme will be delivered in The Hidden Gardens, Scotland’s first Sanctuary Gardens dedicated to peace. The upkeep of the gardens is funded by Glasgow City Council, without which this jewel in the city would not be sustainable to deliver what it does in its progressive community engagement programme.”
The Big Lottery Fund Scotland Chair, Maureen McGinn, said: “I am delighted that The Hidden Gardens has been successful in securing a Big Lottery Fund grant. This is raised through the National Lottery. The funding will make a big difference where it is needed most and I wish The Hidden Gardens every success as it goes on to develop and expand its project for the benefit of their local community.”
