Westbury Community Shed has grown from humble beginnings 14 months ago to a now established group with two permanent centres in the town and another workshop planned for early 2017.
With the health and wellbeing of the people of Westbury at its core, the group has established connections with many local people and community organisations.
Shed chairman Dan Gmaj said, “We have endeavoured to bring people together to enjoy and celebrate the simple things that give us pleasure like valuable human contact, conversation and working together towards a common aim!
“As a group, we are ever mindful of the suffering that so many endure daily and know that a small effort can make a huge difference.”
In the past the group has also held public meetings at the Leigh Park Community Centre.
“We would like to thank the Leigh Park Community Centre for their support,” Dan continued. “We have pledged to assist with their plans to expand their wonderful facilities in due course. For now, however, our regular meetings have moved to the new workshop ‘Shed-Quarters’ in Alfred Street every Saturday and Wednesday afternoon from 2pm-6pm.
“The latest project from the group is Project Winter Garden’ which carries on from the huge success of their community allotment this year!
“With less natural daylight and the resulting lowering of natural vitamin D that exacerbates seasonal affective disorder (SAD) syndrome for many in the winter months, we wanted to offer a chance to maximise outdoor activity for existing members and newcomers to the group.
“Thus, ‘project winter garden’ was conceived! We faced a dilemma in that regular allotment sessions would inevitably tail off over the winter period so we asked the Westbury Area Board for help.
“We hope to enable our allotment site to carry on offering twice weekly winter garden allotment sessions throughout the cold season by installing some new infrastructure.
“The project involves erecting a polytunnel with raised internal beds and a seed tray system to bring on seedlings over the winter. We will be maximising light exposure potential within the design with use of reflective surfaces and light diffusing polyurethane and will also be improving general and wheelchair access to all areas of the plot.”
Westbury Shed will offer these sessions to members every Wednesday and Saturday morning (10am to 1pm) for a £2 voluntary contribution.
You can also drop in to Westbury Shed on a Wednesday or Saturday afternoon (2pm-6pm) at The LA works, Alfred Street, BA13 3DY.
Email westburyshed@gmail.com for more details or visit the website at: www.westburyshed.org
