Meet Our Local Community – Fallowfield Secret Garden..

Fallowfield Secret Garden is a volunteer-led, urban Permaculture project which aims to develop a beautiful, biodiverse green space for the local community to meet, eat, learn and play. The project was set up in 2011 and has gone from strength to strength through the support of local volunteers and neighbours. Our 1.5-acre site, hidden away in the middle of a housing estate, has been transformed from an overgrown wasteland to a thriving community space which now includes a vegetable garden, kid’s forest play area, orchard, wildlife pond, medicinal garden and a wooden roundhouse.

The garden is run by a core group of 10-15 volunteers who give their time each week to make sure it is open for anyone to join, whether volunteer or just to visit. We are open all year round for at least 3 days per week. Members of the core group divide the responsibilities for leading different projects onsite, running activities/events with overarching responsibilities including communications and volunteer coordination.

We are a constituted community group with a Board comprising a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. Decisions are made by consensus in meetings, or decision-making can be devolved to working groups with specific responsibilities and roles.

Fallowfield Secret Garden is one of the longest-running community garden projects in South Manchester, made possible through the continued support from One Manchester in leasing the site, backing by the local Council and our neighbours, and most importantly because of our dedicated group of local volunteers. Our projects uses up cycled materials wherever possible, keeping costs much lower than buying new, and reflecting our commitment to environmental sustainability.

Very soon we will be launching a fund raising campaign. We really need to have a classroom space so we can put on events and workshops throughout the year. We are looking for some type of building  around 14 meters by 7 meters big.  If anyone would like to donate to the garden or has any ideas then please get intouch.

Many thanks,
Mark Roberts 
Founder of The Fallowfield Secret Garden

thefallowfieldsecretgarden@gmail.com

Eddie – Friday 12th September 2025. (Text and images supplied by Mark).