ORGANISERS of a community garden in “a forgotten corner” of Bangor are appealing for help to establish a modular building on the site.
Currently, a raft of community activities at the Cae Doctor plot at Maestryfan are organised from a container.
Historically, the land was donated to the community by a local doctor as a green space.
Champion of the plot, Cyngor Gwynedd and Bangor City Council councillor Elin Walker Jones said over the years the dormant land had become overgrown, attracting drug users and dog fouling.
Following the establishment of the Maestryfan Community Group in 2021, the garden has now blossomed into a popular community space enjoyed by locals.
The garden, opposite the old Friars school site, on Friddoedd Road, is planted with colourful flowers and herbs and provides picnic tables, grassy areas and children’s play equipment.
It is also a venue for all sorts of activities from gardening and woodworking, life and work skill sessions for local school pupils, to disability learning sessions, activities helping towards Duke of Edinburgh awards, as well as hosting craft events, raffles, to outdoor film nights and community picnics.
The volunteers who run the garden say they need a community building, as their container is rapidly running out of space.
Lifetime local resident Jackie Spence, who is treasurer of the Masetryfan Community group and also a Bangor City Council councillor, said: “We desperately need a new community centre for our community garden.
“We have a lot going on here and we could do more, but we are rapidly outgrowing our container, it is packed to the gunnels!
“We’d really like something like a modular building and to keep the container just for storage of all our gardening and other equipment.
“It would be wonderful if there was someone out there [that] could help us either through funding or even to donate a modular building. It would be fantastic to have a community centre here.
“We do feel a little bit like the forgotten corner of Bangor when it comes to funding, often the bigger areas such as Maesgeirchen get more attention.
“We don’t resent them, they need resources too, but we feel because we are a much smaller community here at Maestryfan, that we are often a bit overlooked yet our garden is extremely well used by the local community.”
Cllr Walker Jones added: “This garden is such a wonderful place, it makes my heart happy to see how it has grown into what it is now, from when it was just an overgrown patch of land, to see how it is now, with local people enjoying it.
“So much love and care and hard work has gone into developing it, and it is a very popular community space.
“On sunny days you will see families down here having picnics, children playing on the grass, among the flowers, it’s a lovely garden space, and they do so much good work down here.”
The group say they are always looking for volunteers to get involved, either helping with planting, care and maintenance of the garden or organising events and activities.
Anyone who could help is asked to contact Jackie Spence on 07968 643 231.
