Volunteers give village garden a makeover with support from salmon farmer
Salmon farmer Bakkafrost Scotland has helped fund a public garden in the village of Kirn, near Dunoon on the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll and Bute.
The EnviroKirn Action Group was established to care for the environment in Kirn and to promote the health and wellbeing of the local community.
Volunteers from the group have transformed a previously under-used space into a welcoming area where people of all ages can come together, learn about gardening and enjoy community events.
Ongoing activities
With support from Bakkafrost Scotland’s Community Fund, the group has purchased ten new barrel planters, gardening tools and equipment from local garden centres. They have also installed an accessible storage unit to support ongoing activities.
Local schoolchildren have already started to benefit from the project, visiting the site to explore the outdoors and discover the joys and educational value of gardening.
Stuart Drummond, Bakkafrost Scotland’s assistant harvest Mmanager in Ardyne, said: “The work the group does makes such a big difference to the feel of the area. It gives us all access to grounds that are beautiful and well maintained. The volunteers also ensure other parts of the village are looked after too.
Help communities
“I nominated EnviroKirn for the Bakkafrost Scotland Community Fund as what they do fits perfectly with our desire as a company to help the communities we live and work in. There are clear educational benefits too from the gardening work the volunteers have been doing.”
The action group also works closely with Argyll and Bute Council, local schools and HELP (Argyll and Bute) Limited, which has been set up to help the area’s young people with issues such as housing, health and wellbeing.
Shirley Macleod, a member of the EnviroKirn Action Group, said: “EnviroKirn was established to look after and develop the gardens and general environment of our village.
“The community and local schoolchildren all benefit from the efforts made by this group, from events taking place to learning more about gardening.”
