Get Involved
Volunteer
Hulme Community Garden Centre is a unique community led inner-city horticultural project.
Our mission is to bring the local community together through gardening. Up to 100 volunteers contribute to HCGC each week across all age groups and from a wide range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, both local and from further afield.
From participating, volunteers can gain an insight into how a garden centre works and develop skills in a wide range of areas. We aim to provide an environment where people can learn, develop and share skills and information about horticulture, and wider environmental and sustainability issues. From maintaining the community gardens, woodworking, assisting with our supported sessions to getting involved in our community cafe, we offer a huge range of volunteering experiences.
If you’re interested in getting involved, please email volunteering@hulmegardencentre.org.uk
Supported Sessions
Marrow Barrows – Tuesdays 1.30-3pm and Fridays 10.30am-12noon, £3 per person
Our supported sessions for individuals requiring more structured activity due to learning difficulties or a disability. Activities take place in the gardens or in our community polytunnel and are based on developing gardening skills and making environmental crafts.
Health & Well Being - Fridays 1.30 - 3pm
These sessions are tailored to individuals experiencing issues with well being and mental health and focus on creating a quieter and calmer environment in which to enjoy gardening.
Toddlers
Garden Explorers
Parent & Toddler club. Thursdays 11am-noon, £3 per child including materials, tea/coffee and juice.
Our Gardening club for toddlers runs year round come rain, wind or shine. Every week we do a different activity – outdoors when possible. Always fun, often muddy! No booking required, just turn up.
Home Education
Sessions for home educated and flexi-schooled children aged 5-10 years old, Tuesdays 1.30-3pm.
We run several blocks throughout the year, pre-booking required.
The emphasis of our sessions is on a creative, warm and inviting environment with learning areas that are filled with potential activities that invite children to explore, providing an environment that is rich in sensory impact. Focusing on different areas of our site, the children will play a key part in sowing, growing and tending to the garden, as well as learning about biodiversity and encouraging beneficial wildlife.
Corporate Social responsibility
A challenge day with us…
…is an excellent way to engage with the local community and provides great team-building and development opportunities for corporate groups. Your employees will apply their skills in a different context; interact with colleagues in the relaxed setting of our unique urban oasis and help the community to grow and blossom.All activities are practical, outdoors, hands on and suitable for everyone: an example of a challenge might be:
- Creating an accessible, sensory garden for people with disabilities to enjoy
- Developing our messy play area to get local children off their screens and into the wild
- Installing a water harvesting system as part of our commitment to long term sustainability
- Planting an edible garden to provide organic produce for the community.
BECOME A MEMBER
Hulme Community Garden Centre is a Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee, and subscribes to international Co-operative Values and Principles meaning that values such as democracy, openness and fairness are fundamental, as is support for education, concern for others, and working for the good of the community as a whole.
Membership is open to individuals and organisations that share the Charity’s goals, are in agreement with it’s objectives, and wish to share risks and benefits.
Members make decisions at general meetings on a ‘one member, one vote’ basis, irrespective of the number of shares held. Members elect the board who oversee the business and are accountable to the members. Only members are eligible to serve on the board. We currently have a non-investor membership of around 80 members drawn from our community of local people, volunteers, service users and carers. To find out more about this please email membership@hulmegardencentre.org.uk
The charity plans to increase membership through a Community Share Offer in July 2019 aimed at investor members. A community share offer will be launched with the aim of selling shares (nominal value of £1, minimum shareholding of £100 for interest payment) to current members, the local community and our wider supporters in order to raise the capital to undertake capital improvements. You can find more details of this here