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In the living memory of our 86 year old senior member, all the site was occupied and cultivated. There were 30 plots, strung at right angles to the old railway line that ran from the towering viaduct of Pensford to Temple Meads in Bristol. The Beeching axe cut the line in the 50's, and more subtle social changes undermined the allotments. By late 1997, despite valiant attempts to revive interest, the site had 7 members and 8 occupied plots, some of those dubiously cultivated. Much of the rest was overrun by head high grasses and brambles. In November 1997 a new committee decided on a last effort to regenerate the site, by a policy of active recruitment, with the promise of rotovated and ready-to-plant half or full plots for new members. The Secretary attended a local symposium on community action called "Creating Change", which was practical and useful. Members cleared and rotovated a couple of plots as show areas, and managed to get some publicity in the local free paper. The plots were taken. In February 1998 the site was visited by BBC NewsWest and featured in a 3 minute item in the local news. More press publicity was obtained. By March, 5 months after regeneration began, half the site was occupied. The initial success had been achieved by communal working days involving old and new members, together with local posters, press and media publicity, and some good luck. The growing season showed new and sustainable life on the site. So far Spadeworks had muddled along on a "let's try it" basis just to see if some of the less overgrown areas could be brought back into cultivation. Very soon members had to decide what to do next. The rest of the site was an irresistible challenge for some, and at an April meeting, not without some misgivings, members agreed to extend their ambition to clearing it all, and bringing it into full use by the Millenium. There were 2 very obvious problems to achieving that target. The first was resources, in finance, materials and manpower, since further clearance necessarily involved the use of heavy machinery. The second was whether new members could be recruited, even if the plots were successfully cleared. A third, and less obvious but equally essential task, was making sure existing members enjoyed their allotments and were not asked for an unacceptably laborious commitment as part of the expansion process. Dealing with these factors proved to be an unexpectedly difficult and time-consuming process. War had to be fought on more than one front - a notoriously dangerous business. What use to obtain the funding if the work could not be carried through because of tired and over-worked members? What the point of 10 newly cleared plots if nobody from the local community wanted to use them for growing produce? Bristol City Council was initially unable to help with money, but with the help of a local Councillor eventually gave £320 (another press release opportunity), soon spent on the hire of rotovators and the purchase of a new shed. Three other sheds were recycled with permission from derelict plots on the other side of the railway line. The Association was broke again, despite a car boot sale which raised £120 and served to bond us yet again in a common endeavour. The attempts to obtain funding were at first disorganised and scattergun. Spadeworks tried to obtain sponsorship. It became clear quickly this was not going to succeed - nobody saw much reciprocal gain in sponsoring a struggling allotment site, and letters were simply not answered. Two applications to local grant funding bodies were unsuccessful, almost certainly due to inexperience and lack of specific community involvement. A third attempt was sent to the Shell Better Britain Campaign (SBBC). Two members attended a SBBC symposium at Uplands Allotment Association in Birmingham, learnt a lot, met interesting people, and came back enthused. Regardless of whether the application was successful, the value of networking had been learned, and would not be forgotten. Bristol City Council was reviewing its allotment strategy just then. Spadeworks put in a very detailed argument about specific parts of the strategy, contacting neighbouring sites which would be affected. At around the same time the Association submitted its views to the Government sub-Committee on the future of Allotments - eventually included in the report. The Association also became involved with a Bristol City Council local Food Links campaign, which later led to us becoming one of the case studies illustrating local food production which were distributed to the public at a local Farmers Market in Central Bristol. All these apparently unrewarding activities were eventually noticed by people who mattered in the Allotments world, and raised our profile as an energetic and forward-looking Association. We did not get new members this way, but we did get known, and it all helps if grant funding is being sought.
Recruitment was always an issue. Our local TV exposure had been widely noticed by friends but did not produce a single new member. Local radio interviews (one live from the site at 7.15 am) were commented on, but likewise did not help recruitment. The best source of new recruits was the local press, particularly the local free paper which unfortunately is distributed only erratically over part of our catchment area. Our policy is now to concentrate on press releases marking every stage of our progress. In July 1998 we heard that SBBC had granted us £1500 to clear much of the rest of the site. Our first reaction was to jubilantly bank the cheque; the second to invite our local Member of Parliament to present us with a duplicate cheque at a press photo-opportunity on site. This also linked in with our second radio interview. After that we held a summer barbeque to celebrate, which was supplied by and attended by virtually all our members. Recruitment is about quality as well as quantity. We wondered whether a local Salvation Army Hostel for the homeless would really succeed with the half-plot we persuaded them to take; they have proved enthusiastic and constructive gardeners, despite the turnover of residents who are eventually housed in other areas. Yet at least three new members had for one reason or the other been unable to start cultivating their plots seriously, even when offered help, and our policy is always to suggest they give way to others on the waiting list who can begin growing produce. A policy of helping each other has to be combined with the realisation that we cannot carry passengers. This kind of active management of membership requires good communication, tact, and sensitivity to others needs. Above all it involves knowing members as well as possible personally, not just as names on the list. Of course it's easier with small numbers. The SBBC grant paid for an agricultural contractor to clear, plough, and cultivate ten overgrown plots. Included also was membership of the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers - another practical extension to our network of helpful organisations. We hadn't catered for the problem of rubbish disposal - our first small bonfire brought complaints from adjacent houses, some of whom had been dumping their garden refuse on the disused part of the site for years. Bristol City Council responded helpfully to this crisis; by now our efforts to help ourselves were being recognised. The SBBC grant also paid for the printing of publicity leaflets which we dropped through letterboxes in the area. This was surprisingly unsuccessful. There was one direct response from nearly 1000 leaflets, though there may have been an unquantifiable word of mouth effect. So far as we can judge, the local press is still easily the best way to gain new members. Above all the grant brought us credibility, and a measure of self-confidence. Someone else believed in us, and we could ourselves believe that our target really was achievable. Ambitiously we spent much time devising a grant application to the Civic Trust which, if successful, would ensure resources to carry us through to the end. Six weeks later the Civic Trust replied; they were stopping all funding. On the rebound we applied for a smaller local grant for conservation measures from the Bristol Environmental Body, and were successful. Confidence was restored. Another press release ... Clearance of the ten new plots was completed in October. Within six weeks we had found tenants for seven of those new plots. We were confident that by the 1999 growing season they would all be occupied. If only it were so easy. What actually happened was both success and failure. The failures were in occupation. Although the 10 new plots were notionally occupied at the beginning of 1999, there was a turnover of no less than 7 new members, who could not make a go of their plots. The most notable failure was from our local Probation Service, who to our delight took 3 of the cleared plots in early 1999. This tied in well with our desire to blend social purpose with allotment gardening, and the plots began to be cultivated, under supervision, by people committed by the courts to terms of Community Service, some of whom it was hoped would obtain NVQ's in basic horticulture. But long term illness and resignations depleted the Probation Service staff, and they had to withdraw. Within 10 weeks 4 of the cleared plots were beginning to go back to wilderness, and we had to spray with Glyphosate (at considerable expense) and re-rotovate them to be able to let them according to our policy of "rotovated and ready to plant plots". But we did let them again, and all 10 plots are actively tenanted. This all took valuable time and money. Meanwhile the successes were accumulating - our grant applications for a wildlife pond (see photos) and community cum wildlife garden. By mid-1999 we had achieved a total of nearly £6000 in grant funding since we began the regeneration project - and it all had to be spent within 6 months. We gratefully acknowlege our benefactors on our letterhead and list them at the foot of this account of our progress, which they have made possible.
Spending money is not difficult. We needed guttering and barrels for water conservation, equipment such as a new rotovator, a shredder, and a mower. Pond liners are expensive (we did flirt with the idea of clay puddling but chickened out), and we built a 1000 gallon water reservoir, fed from the roof of our open-sided shredding barn. Meadow grass and wild flower seed, trees, bulbs, native hedging cost a surprising amount. What was difficult was providing the labour to implement our projects. Our members responded magnificently, the British trust for Conservation Volunteers helped with a pond working day, and we gained helpful advice from many local sources, but in the end it fell upon a core of half a dozen or so enthusiasts to carry a heavy burden, as well as trying to cultivate their own plots. They know who they are - without them we could never have managed. Thank you to all of you. By the beginning of 1999 Bristol City Council had decided their Allotment Strategy. It was to sell off for development some un- or under-used allotment sites, while reinvesting some of the proceeds in upgrading viable sites. There had been much discussion, considerable suspicion, and some opposition. Eventually we supported their Strategy, for two reasons. The Council had been very supportive of our efforts at regeneration, and we were convinced that our local authority did genuinely want thriving allotment sites within its area. The second reason was self-interest. We wanted some of the money which would become available, to upgrade our crumbling infra-structure. We initiated discussions with the Council. They were fruitful. It seems likely we shall become a Leasing Association, managing the recruitment to the site, collecting rents and passing 75% to the Council while keeping the rest for our own funding needs. It also seems likely that we will be getting sizeable investment from the Council in refurbishing our site. We see that as the way forward in the future for many sites, but it requires commitment from the members. We have polled our members on their preferences and priorities for the future. They want completion of perimeter fencing, to obtain security as a very clear first choice. Next and very closely grouped, they want improvements to the hauling-way and turning areas, a better water supply for dry periods, clearance of the rest of the site, provision of sheds, and essential tree pruning at the edge of the site. Members meet shortly to discuss how to get best value for money from the Council investment. Clearance involves 4 remaining plots at the southern end of the site, even more heavily overgrown than the others were. The extreme southern plot which is now wooded with mature trees and which may never have been cultivated in the past is going to become a wildlife shelter belt. In the middle of the site we have created a communal garden and amenity area with pond, screened from our secure storage building (recently funded by the Council) by native shrubs. Our target is to have this verdant by the Millenial growing season. We believe in mechanisation - if allotments are to be used by all the community, this will include people who may have difficulty with the physicality of digging heavy clay soil such as ours. We will help them rotovate. We have set up a communal composting process on our site for the benefit of all members, and have acquired a robust shredder to make this practical (see photos below). Eventually, despite the difficulties similar projects have encountered, we hope to extend this to community composting. We have built 2 large composting bays from recycled timber. A local wine importer has donated 20 second-hand plastic barrels for water conservation.
Financial support is vital, and we will continue to apply for grant funding wherever we can. Community organisations must get good information on where to apply; the number and diversity of funding bodies is surprisingly large. Shared knowledge from networking support is vital. Additionally, good relations with the local Council are essential. Our experience is that this thrives on constructive criticism and solid evidence of self-help. Local Authorities like to invest in winners, not failures. Somewhere along the way we managed to develop a simple Web site, linked to the Digital City Bristol IntraNet. At about the same time we were contacted by someone compiling a Community Directory for our area and were able to include not merely ourselves but other local allotment sites in the listings. Above all we are grateful to QED Dartford and its Virtual Potting Shed for putting us properly, and at no cost, on the Net. All allotmenteers with Internet facilities should access this site - it contains a wealth of information. It will save them the effort of re-inventing the wheel, and give them a sense of community with all the others out there who are working for, and enjoying, a greener world. We have not had time or resources yet to implement all our new ideas, such as the use of solar or wind power for lighting and alarm systems, the feasibility of growing higher value cash crops such as asparagus and runner beans for local marketing in aid of Association funds, or the possibility of alternative uses for some plots or half plots such as withy growing or establishing small orchards. We would like a compost toilet. Further community involvement of children, the disadvantaged or the disabled would enhance our membership. Writing an account of our brief history imposes an artificial order on the recent past. It is important to stress the random, chaotic nature of community acitivity, consisting of false starts and blind alleys, great ideas which don't work (like sponsorship), moments of disappointment and great elation. And although the regeneration of Spadeworks has been a tiny enterprise in the great scheme of things, it has necessarily become a full-time preoccupation and at times a burden, requiring evenings spent at the word-processor (how did we manage without them?), on the telephone, or just arguing about the way forward and what to do next. Not to mention the meetings, the networking, writing a constitution, investigating charitable status, the communal working days, and occasionally a little spare time for allotment gardening. It would be a treat to have time to go for a decent walk at the weekend.... It doesn't do to complain. If you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen. Only, who is going to do the cooking then? To be sustainable, all community groups require successors to the committees that run them. New members will be taking Spadeworks into the new Millenium. They need to know that, and be prepared for that. Perhaps by then it won't be too difficult, if we can get it right now. If anyone is interested in advice from our experiences so far, it is to record obsessively everything you do. Take photographs, keep your press cuttings, use a cam-corder to record volunteers at work, video any television exposure and tape radio interviews. However worthy your aims and hard your work, others are disproportionately impressed by your media publicity. You want to get your message across. Remember Marshall McLuhan; the medium is the message. John Mantle Information Officer, Spadeworks - Sturminster Road Allotment Association, Bristol. Telephone 01275 545 119: e-mail jeanmantle@beeb.net
[This version posted July 10, 2000] |
