Sligo Children’s Community Garden

If you are a regular visitor to the blog you’ll know how much I like discovering new places, especially in Sligo. Well I say new, the Sligo Children’s Community Garden (SCCG) has been running since 2020, it’s a place where children and families can play, learn and grow. With a focus on biodiversity, sustainability and organic principles, they are growing and reconnecting community bonds.

The founding members are four local mums, they set up the non-profit group so that parents and children could meet each other in a safe space.

The garden is located in Cleveragh, at the L.E.T.S Organic centre and I went along for the Mucky Monday Carers and Tot’s group. It was a lovely busy morning and I enjoyed my time exploring the garden, the polytunnel, the children’s kitchen and the forest. The place was alive with bird song and children laughing.

Jenny, Trisha and Kylie were telling me all about the garden and the plans they have for it. (Jenny and Trisha are in the photo at the top of the blog). They already have an intergenerational project – The Sharing of Story and Tale. Older members of the community come to the garden and tell the children stories of what life was like in the area when they were young. They sit around the fire and toast marshmallows as they talk – it sounds like a really lovely idea. The main idea for this was that many of the children don’t have grandparents living nearby, so this is a way for them to connect with that age group and to respect them.

Jenny was telling me the garden might be of interest to those who might not have a garden, or might like a place to bring their families to explore and relax. She told me that the Mucky Monday Mornings are very popular, the carers tend to enjoy the tea and the chats and the children love playing in the dirt – or as Trisha tells me – soil is not dirt. It’s also a fantastic way to get to know new people and on my morning there everyone was made very welcome.

The group were telling me they’d love some help with the garden and some advice, so if that might be something you’d be interested in you can contact them on Facebook. They’d also love to set up a sensory garden: https://www.facebook.com/SligoChildrensCommunityGarden

Members of the garden can come in whenever they like, they can water the plants, do a bit of weeding, or just enjoy the space. Family membership is €15 for the year to cover insurance. It’s a €3/donation to attend the Carer and children’s group on a Monday morning 10.30-12.

Thank you to the group for showing me around – I’ll tell you about Trisha’s Woodland School in another post.