Sheffield's mini oasis helping to meet the booming demand for allotments

The Hope Community Allotment Project has been running since 2005 and currently has about 10 volunteers and 15 active users.

People can get involved in maintaining the four communal plots and growing their own organic produce. Each user gets their own bed measuring approximately 3mx2m.

Sheena Clarke, Coordinator of the Hope Community Allotment Project, said: “We grow things that take up a lot of space in the communal plots, such as cabbages, potatoes and sweetcorn. We have also got a very nice plot of kales to seed through the winter.

“There are lots of fruits as well: red and blackcurrants, blueberries, apples and pears. We have two polytunnels where we grow tomatoes, chillies, cucumbers, peppers and aubergines.

“We also grow flowers in early spring months and we sell them as planters online to fund our project. Flowers are very important for encouraging insects to pollinate the vegetables.”

At the allotment, sessions run on Monday and Thursday from 9.30am to 12.30pm and a Saturday session runs from 10am until 1pm. Each session costs £1 to join.

Sheena said: “At our sessions, we always start with a cup of tea or coffee, then we do work for about an hour or so, and more refreshments, another chunk of work and at the end, we always have home-made soup and bread.

“It’s well-known that people do get a lot of health benefits from being outside and people have come to appreciate it more during the past 18 months. It’s great exercise and you get to grow your own food.”

As a small not-for-profit organization, the allotment also welcomes people experiencing social barriers including learning disabilities, mental health issues and isolation to come along and try something new.

Sheena said: “Some of our users come through organisations such as Mind or the part of social services that deal with adult learning disabilities.

“Our volunteers are very sensitive to people’s needs and over the years, we learned how to make everyone feel welcomed so they’d want to come back.

“The socialising part is really important. For many, especially for people with mental health issues or loneliness, they appreciate that company.”

A group of regular volunteers at the Hope Community Allotment Project has maintained the site well throughout lockdown and they are ready to welcome back people and get more involved.

Sheena said: “A few more volunteers joined during lockdown and not many users were coming so we could keep the growing side of the project going. Now it’s slowly getting back to normal.

“We do know that there’s been an enormous demand for people taking on their own allotments. I think getting involved in a project like ours is a useful way of getting to learn a bit about gardening. Some of our users have gone on to get their own plots afterwards."

Before the pandemic, there were regular events including trips to the seaside and Christmas parties, which it is hoped can be reintroduced soon.

"A project like ours in which people come together instead of working on their own gives people a feeling that they are part of something bigger,” she added.