What's Happening
Firstly, we have re-named the gardening group as the Matson Community Gardening Group (formerly known as The Phoenix Gardening Group) as it better reflects our connection with the community and our mission statement; as follows:
"Our aim is to restore the Matson Rose Garden into a welcoming place for the whole community, provide a sustainable gardening project and allow wildlife to return to its natural habitat."
"Our gardening group also want to re-connect with the community and provide a space where people can meet, enjoy the outdoors and get involved with improving this valuable asset."
"We believe gardening is a great way to meet new people, improve mental health, physical well-being and a great opportunity to learn new skills from one another."
It is pleasing to note that local residents are now recognising the hard work our gardening group have done since forming in July 2023, that said we still have a long way to go to bring this wonderful green space back to its former glory. We would particularly like to make sure the garden is a safe, welcoming and accessible space for people with disabilities.
Talking of which, we recently received an old photograph from Owain Powell (Grounds Supervisor, Ubico) of what is now called the Matson Rose Garden, although back in the day it was actually named the ‘Matson Rest Garden’ and it was full of beautiful flower beds!
Q. If any local residents have any old photographs of the Matson Rose Garden, we would like to see them and use them for a future public consultation.
Future Vision
Behind the scenes the gardening group, together with the support of our new CEO Cathy Griffiths, GL Communities and the Environmental Management Team of Gloucester City Council have been discussing our proposals to improve and upgrade the pathways and access points in the Matson Rose Garden.
As most people are currently aware, the condition of the pathways in the Matson Rose Garden have deteriorated over a period of time and this together with rainwater flooding has created uneven surfaces; making it difficult for those people with wheelchairs, mobility scooters and other mobility aids to safely visit this valuable community space.
We have also approached Barnwood Trust for funding to pay for our proposed improvements, although our plans will need to be ‘approved in principle’ by Gloucester City Council (GCC) as a starting point, followed by a public consultation to empower local residents to have their say.
We are hopeful that our proposals will be warmly received and further shaped by the community at a future public consultation; date and venue to be announced as soon as possible.
Once our plan has been agreed by all parties involved and Barnwood Trust have accepted and approved our completed funding application, we will be in a better position to update the community.
Naturally, these matters can take some time and updates will be provided in due course through the GL Communities Website, under the heading of community notes.
Spring is now upon us!
After a noticeably wet winter, we are glad to see spring flowers starting to grow and some wild flowers are also starting to make an appearance, I’m also pleased to see some of the re-located roses starting to grow too.
As a group we have started to plant again and two more cherry trees have been planted to increase our stock and attract more pollinators.
Furthermore, we are still stripping ivy from our Arizona Cypress (Cupressus Arizonia) trees to expose the attractive trunks and provide more light into the surrounding borders.
Let's Get Involved!
We’d love to welcome a few new volunteers into our friendly gardening team! If you’d like to get involved, feel free to pop into the Phoenix Centre Garden or Rose Garden any Wednesday between 10am and 2.30pm, or give Roy Kellett a call on 07966 523257.
