On May 21, Sandy Road Community Garden held its first Open Day, inviting the public into the garden to explore the space and get involved with a variety of activities. In hosting the event, the group were able to attract new members and raise funds to support the project.

On June 5, the growers took an outing to Edinburgh to visit Gardening Scotland. The event is held at the Royal Highland Centre annually and is Scotland’s national gardening and outdoor living show. The Sandy Road growers returned home with supplies for the garden, and lots of new ideas and connections across Scotland’s gardening network.

On top of the various events and activities, the growers have been tending to their plots in the Partick sunshine and engaging with a local nursery and school to run gardening workshops. As recognition for all of their hard work, they recently received the news that the project has been shortlisted as a finalist for an Evening Times Streets Ahead Award in the category of Best Community Garden.

Viki McCormick, community development officer at Partick Housing Association, said: “The Sandy Road Community Garden is managed by a committee of volunteers. They are really focused on making the garden a community asset and give up a lot of their free time to make it a success. We were pleased to hear that the project is a finalist for the Evening Times award, and wish them every success on the night.”

The winners of the Evening Times Awards will be announced on the evening of June 15.