About Us

Founded in 2012 by Walsall Council Social Care and Inclusion, Goscote Greenacres Community Garden was established to bring together adults with learning disabilities and the local community, fostering inclusivity and tackling prejudice. Over the years, it has grown into a vibrant space where residents, schools, and community groups engage in gardening, nature conservation, and social activities.

The garden features 50+ small plots, including raised beds for accessibility, a wildflower area, an offsite orchard, and a woodland strip adjacent to the Wyrley and Essington Canal. Volunteers, many with learning disabilities, cultivate fresh produce, which is either sold locally or donated to food banks.

Regular community events, such as the Mayday plant sale and Halloween celebrations, help strengthen local connections and encourage participation. As a not-for-profit organization, Goscote Greenacres continues to support individuals in learning new skills, improving well-being, and fostering a sense of belonging through gardening.

About Our Site

The site consists of 54 plots 25 of which are raised beds which the local community come and use to grow mainly fruit and vegetables. The site attracts more elderly members to use the raised beds as this enables them to garden easily, 42% of site users are over 50.

We are surrounded by a beautiful woodland which in itself is enclosed within a loop of the Wyrely and Essington Canal for which we have fishing rights. We have begun to develop this woodland with the aim of teaching woodland craft and bushcraft skills in the future and did our first tree planting event in March 2025.

The site is situated in a deprived ward and contributes to local and national health outcomes by increasing physical activity and improve diet by supplying fresh vegetables to the local community.

When we are back on our feet we hope to relaunch our farm shop and are working with our partners at Urban Hax to explore how we can provide seasonal produce to the newly refurbished Guildhall Centre for Creative Industries cafe when it opens in 2026.

Moving Forward

What follows is the text from the original website. At present we are looking to see where this new era takes us all and will be talking to as many people as possible to see what the community wants to see us do with this incredible site. Keep checking back!

Moving forward Goscote Greenacres Community garden wishes to continue doing the good work it has achieved in the past while still working in partnership with Social care and inclusion, along with other partners including Mary Elliot special school, youth justice, harmony Care and local business community. The garden hopes to take on the management of Bloxwich community orchard as well as develop a garden maintenance business and a local vegetable box scheme in conjunction with local food producers.

The Reaching Communities grant from the Big Lottery prevents the community garden from closing and will seek to address the issues below:

Old age, loneliness and isolation - As 42% of our site users are over 50 it helps keep them active and part of the community. Recent statistics also show that isolation is more harmful to health than smoking 15 cigarettes a day so by engaging those who are most isolated we are also improving physical wellbeing.
Mental health – studies show that gardening helps to improve people’s mental health through helping them to improve communication with others, help with learning new practical skills/teamwork and planning and improving confidence and helping with concentration.
Learning difficulties – The project gives adults with LD a sense of purpose, ownership and responsibility, and a chance to interact with the local community.
Physical difficulties – The project provides health benefits to local community through increased physical activity and locally grown organic produce, either their own or through our onsite farm shop
Community cohesion – The project helps tackle prejudice by bringing adults with learning disabilities and the local community together in positive and informal environments
The environment – teaching people how to grow organically and care for the environment.
Poor diet and physical wellbeing - The garden increases access to fresh vegetables through our onsite farm shop. Also the 42 families with plots on the site have increased physical activity through gardening and also increase their intake of fresh locally grown vegetables.