Article and (most) photos by our school placement interns, Katie and Nina. Thank you for your great work.
The Midlothian Community Hospital Garden sits on five acres of land, containing a wide array of colourful flowers, a beautiful landscape filled with trees, and a hedgerow that serves as a habitat for local wildlife. This garden, first established at the request of the NHS by an organisation called Cyrenians, has spent the past twelve years helping the Midlothian community build connections, learn new things, and get involved with volunteering opportunities.
The garden is one of two green spaces in the area run by Cyrenians in collaboration with NHS Lothian. Cyrenians was formed in 1968 with the aim of understanding and preventing the causes and consequences of homelessness. When I sit down to speak with Michala Bradshaw, who runs the garden, she tells me that these green spaces reduce isolation and improve people’s mental health, both of which are preventative measures that can decrease one’s risk of becoming homeless. One of the major aims of Cyrenians is to focus on intervention, rather than only stepping in once someone no longer has a place to live.
In the past, Cyrenians has coordinated community meals that allow people to connect with others, share food, and learn how to use different fruits and vegetables in cooking. The garden is also open to visitors every day, and there are numerous volunteer opportunities that take place throughout the week as well. People from the wider community are welcome to volunteer two days per week, and Cyrenians works with the justice system to make the garden available four days per week for people participating in community payback programs.
The ethos of the garden itself focuses heavily on sustainability, permaculture, and wildlife gardening, and Cyrenians recognises the importance of making knowledge about these topics accessible. Upon walking into the space, visitors can spot a sign provides information about forest gardening, introducing them to how the practice can promote biodiversity and produce sustainable and resilient food sources. It also contains a list of books, magazines, and YouTube channels that can help one further their research on the topic.
One of the garden’s key features that promotes biodiversity is a hedgerow that was created as part of a training event for MCAN’s community garden network. Hedgelaying is a gardening technique that plays a major role in preventing soil erosion and supporting local wildlife, outcomes that are in alignment with Cyrenians’ values. In addition to the creation of the hedge, the training itself was valuable in helping Cyrenians interact with the staff and volunteers of other gardens in the area as well as allowing everyone who attended to increase their skillsets. Michala says that this is one of the biggest ways that being part of the network has been beneficial; she and other Midlothian gardeners now have a resource they can turn to if there is something they want to learn more about.
Prior to joining the network, she had known that there were other community gardens in the area, but she’d never had the occasion to interact with them. However, Cyrenians is now a part of the network’s WhatsApp group where local gardens can share information, knowledge, and materials between one another. Cyrenians also has a volunteer that spends time at both the Midlothian Community Hospital garden and Loanhead garden and is able to share some insights between the two of them as well.
Looking ahead, there are two major building projects that Cyrenians is working on. Firstly, the organisation is making progress on a covered seating area that can be adapted for several different purposes. It was initially created for community meals, but it can also be used as a workshop space once it is completed. They are also working on restoring their greenhouse and adding to it, which is set to be completed towards in autumn. Since Cyrenians has made major advancements on these two projects, Michala has begun speaking with volunteers about what they might want to do next.
At the end of the season, Cyrenians will have its annual review wherein staff and volunteers will discuss how the year has gone and how the garden should move forward. Some ideas that volunteers have proposed so far include building a pottery shed and learning more about forest gardening, though the exact specifics will depend on who is providing funding and what their targets are. Another major development for Cyrenians is that they’ve just received funding from the NHS for the first time, so they will be able to do more work with hospital patients specifically. Prior to this, Cyrenians was doing all their own fundraising, so this is a huge milestone for staff and volunteers. Undoubtedly, this support will be incredibly positive in helping the garden continue working toward their goals and engaging the Midlothian community in unique and welcoming ways.
