[C]umbrian horticulturalist Kate Jackson has been appointed as Community Gardener and Engagement Office at Gosling Sike, Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s new training and volunteering hub in the village of Houghton, near Carlisle.
Kate was previously head gardener at Rydal Hall and The World of Beatrix Potter and also worked as a gardener at Holker Hall and Sizergh Castle. She’s excited by her new challenge: “We’ll be creating a demonstration wildlife garden here at Gosling Sike which we hope will inspire everyone and show how important it is to think of wildlife when we’re gardening. I’m already learning a lot myself about wildlife gardening, such as how to create habitats and viewing plants from a whole new perspective, choosing them on the merits of how much life they support as well as their aesthetic value.”
She continues: “Work has already begun on creating a pond, the best way to attract wildlife like dragonflies, toads and newts, as well as wonderful plants such as water lily and iris. However, my first job is to drain it and line it, before the wildlife starts moving in! Then we plan to plant orchards and create a whole range of wildlife habitats, once we’ve got the groundworks done, sorting out drainage and footpaths.”
A key aim of Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s garden project at Gosling Sike is to involve a range of people from the local and wider community, from all walks of life, in the creation of this new green space. Kate is looking forward to working with the residents of Houghton, and from the autumn will be running regular garden work parties for volunteers, where they can take the lead in planning and planting. She is also reaching out to community organisations in the Carlisle area, offering work experience at the garden. Kate will soon start working with the Community Payback Group from the Probation Service. They will start clearing and tidying the site, in preparation for the groundworks to begin. She also hopes to work with Carlisle Youth Zone later in the year, when the young people could be involved in activities such as building a bird feeding station and garden structures.
Kate has first-hand experience of how working on garden projects like this can bring many health benefits, both physical and mental. At Rydal Hall she set up residential volunteer programmes and worked with the Liverpool-based charity Tom Harrison House, whereby ex-service personnel overcoming addiction helped her in the gardens as part of their rehabilitation. Kate said the attendees found the residential weeks a hugely worthwhile experience: “They all said they slept better, felt better, enjoyed the fresh air and the chance to build friendships and improve their self-confidence. One attendee said “it was the first time he had felt happy in years.” After this she ran a similar successful pilot project with the Refugee Council, providing invaluable work experience as part of their resettlement programme and hopes to set up something similar in her new role.
Kate concludes: “This exciting project will show that creating a wildlife garden is not just good for plants and animals – it can help the health and wellbeing of everyone in the community. And when it’s finished, the garden at Gosling Sike will be a place of beauty, where everyone is welcome to visit and to sit and enjoy the quiet and stillness, while observing the wildlife all around them.”
If you would like to get involved with Kate’s work at the Gosling Sike community garden, contact her on [email protected]
