The Hut - Green Fingers

Ashby Road Estates Green Fingers group is ran from Ashby Road Estates Community Centre; where members of the community can join in and improve the look of our estate and surrounding areas. Both in the public spaces and their own gardens.

WHY ????

Green spaces improve your mood, but there is also evidence that horticulture can form part of the solution towards major health and wellbeing issues and within this group we wish to encourage this over the whole estate.

We will embrace and encourage any age and ability to help support this group.

Entering into the local Loughborough In Bloom competition & It's Your Neighbourhood Awards where community groups are active and encourage cleaning up and greening up their immediate local environment - whether that’s the street they live in, or a small patch of communal land needing a revamp.

Those taking part report cleaner, greener and safer surroundings; a growing sense of community pride; increased rates of local recycling and environmental awareness, and a reduction in anti-social behaviour with the regeneration of run-down areas; This can include such activities as planting bulbs and plants around the estate, re-vamp and face -lift a run down area and keeping the green space in and around the community centre looking green and wildlife friendly giving it a warm and welcoming entrance to the centre users.

Types Of Activities & Projects We Undertake

Raised beds in and around the hut car park
Keeping the rear of the hut play area clean and tidy
Looking at projects that will improve the look in and around our estate
Gardening & wildlife education
Community Litter picks
Community scrap mettle drives
Community consultation regarding green spaces this includes local parks & recreational areas
Raising funds through funding applications, charity activity and events.

Our first project was to acquire some old planters that was located outside the flats opposite the shops on our estate, as they were unused and un-maintained and attracted anti-social behaviour. These were the property of a local housing association who manage the flats and was planned to be broken up and removed by the housing association.

WE SAVED THEM FROM BEING DISTROYED AND DISPOSED OFF, GIVING ANOTHER LEASE OF LIFE

We managed to contact someone within the housing association and they gave permission for us to remove and relocate the two planters. We relocated them at the main entrance of the hut with great support from our volunteers and additional help from Kevin from K.J Sharman Monumental Mason Monumental Masons and Memorials with his van and trolly.

Community Centre Car Park Project

At the moment we have secured funding but still seeking further funding to purchase & install raised beds around the community centre car park, these will be made of timber sleepers.

This will improve the look of the car park with a raised bed area around the parking bays allowing us to plant the area up with wildlife friendly plants allowing us to support nature while having a functional car park. People parking will visually see where they can drive up too having clear boundaries and the raised beds will stop cars driving over the edging. Included will be the fitting of safety reflective markings on the face of the raised beds allowing drivers to see clear boundaries.

We will soon be starting on our flower beds thanks to Great Deals at Travis Perkins builders' merchants and funding from East Midlands Airport Community Fund, University Open Fund & Tesco Local Community Scheme GROUNDWORK UK. We will start with the site bellow the new Community Centre sign just installed, tyhere we shall build timber raised beds, from there we plan to move oposite side of the carpark with another raised bed then we shall move down both sides of the carpark. This will be done in different phases and will depend on further funding and support from the community and our valued volunteers.