A MUCH-LOVED community garden is set to get a revamp thanks to a cash injection.
The Friends of Acomb Library have been awarded £1,500 to revamp and upgrade the library garden by the National Garden Scheme Community Garden Grant 2026.
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Fiona Reilly Acomb, Explore Centre Manager, said: "We are so lucky at Explore to have the support of Friends groups who work so hard to raise funds for our libraries.
"They help us to put on events, raise money for repairs, and generally make their communities a better place.
"We are very grateful to The National Garden Scheme and Westfield Ward and are so excited about seeing the improvements to our much-loved garden.”
Gwen Vardigans, a member of the Library Gardening Group who helped put the bid together with the Friends group, said: “The bid to the National Garden Scheme was very much a team effort involving all the volunteer gardeners. We hope to plant a selection of drought-resistant flowers and shrubs and create a raised community vegetable area.
"The Acomb Library Garden is a community garden for all generations, especially small children and toddlers, who, with their parents, often take turns helping care for the garden with toy watering cans and wheelbarrows.”
She said the Friends group applied last year to respond to the need to renovate the garden and to make it more climate change resilient. The raised beds at the back of the library were starting to show signs of age, which prompted an emergency bid to the Westfield Ward Committee for funds to make them safe. They saw the need and awarded £500 to make them temporarily safe.
However, the raised beds needed to be completely replaced. Plus, last year's drought severely tested the plants. Together, this was an opportunity to upgrade and enhance the biodiversity in the garden.
The Friends of Acomb Library is a recently formed community group set up to support the work of Acomb Explore.
Chairperson, Gordon Campbell-Thomas said they were thrilled when the news was announced.
"We did look at the date of the announcement and wonder if it was a hoax; it was April 1 after all.
But no, it was genuine," he said.
Work will start after the Spring bulbs finish flowering and before Summer sets in.
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