The Edible Garden Project is a joint venture involving the University of Gloucestershire, the St Pauls Road Area Residents' Association and Gloucestershire Police based at the Francis Close Hall campus
The aim of the project is to model community based education for sustainability where students, staff and local people work together on a practical project to gain skills for surviving and thriving in the 21st century. In this project, skills include community building, permaculture design, food awareness, and ecological literacy.
The design of the garden exhibits sustainability in a variety of ways including climate change resiliance through plant diversity, minimal resource and energy use through re-used materials where possible, water harvesting, and a permaculture design aimed at producing food reliably with minimal effort by modeling natural ecosystems. The principal suppliers of materials for the project are ethical local companies including Dundry Nurseries.
Community police officer, Lynn Aston who is involved with project said:
“By taking healthy eating down to the grass roots level, local residents can see food being grown from seeds and that makes sustainable living real to them.”
The garden is funded by Cheltenham Borough Council, the HEFCE Active Community Fund, and the Centre for Active Learning at the University of Gloucestershire