Get Growing Scotland

The people closest to the problem are often closest to the solutions, or so the saying goes, and in Fallin that couldn’t be truer. One of the garden’s founders, Naomi Ross, recounts how good things are happening in Fallin, a small, friendly village just east of Stirling, known in part for its mining history and legacy, and now growing a greener future. In 2022, Naomi responded to a village Facebook post asking if anyone was interested in starting a community garden. A handful of people turned up to the first meeting, including the chair of the newly founded village development trust Fallin Community Voice, and things grew from there.

“I’d seen other community gardens, so the concept wasn’t new to me. When we moved to the village, it just sort of made sense. So many people, even those with gardens at home, can be put off by a lack of time, knowledge or growing skills. Having a community space with a manageable growing area and the chance to learn with others just seemed like the obvious solution to get people growing.”

The garden is situated on the site of a former storage warehouse on the edge of the village, adjacent to the local nature reserve. The concrete base hosts 70 raised beds and two large polytunnels. Almost 100 members grow both indoors and out, learning and sharing skills as they go. The group’s short-term development plans include an indoor meeting space and a community cafe.
Having identified a suitable site, establishing ownership, securing access and obtaining the necessary change of use took some time. However, the team eventually confirmed the council as the landowner through the council’s Vacant and Derelict Land Register and appointing a Project Development Worker, with support from Stirling Council, has proved critical in securing the planning permission and infrastructure to get growing.

Early bids for large amounts of investment to repurpose the site were initially unsuccessful. Instead, support from local partners including the Council Community Development Team, Forth Environment Link, Action Earth and, the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund supported the delivery of greenspace improvements across the village.

“We believe we have been able to demonstrate significant value for the money invested. We’ve gone from being a village that was often underestimated to becoming  a place attracting investment because good things are happening.”

Perhaps the biggest change Naomi reflects has been people’s confidence.

“At first we were lots of enthusiastic people, but we didn’t know what to do. It’s taken a while, but now we are up and running with a newfound sense of agency that has expanded beyond the garden. Other community groups are
applying for funding; villagers have successfully campaigned for a better bus service, raised money for other local projects and even become self-employed. The wider impact has gone far beyond anything I could have imagined.”

“My work area in environmental policy can be slow to see changes, and community growing, by contrast, is so fast. At a very local level, we are changing things for the better. We have focused on what people in the village need: affordable, healthy food, better public transport and safe spaces to gather. We can deliver these things in the village whilst having a positive impact on the environment.”

The garden introduced a pay-as-you-feel model from the outset, set up a free seed library, covered the cost of compost and tools, and removed every barrier they could think of, while focusing on the social aspect of the garden and making it a free, safe and welcoming place to be. It has proven to be hugely successful, with social memberships taken up by non-gardeners keen not to miss out on the fun!

The work continues to grow.

“From September, our bus service will double. We’ve just secured £15,000 to install solar panels on the garden containers, and we’re exploring development of a geothermal project using heat from the mine shafts to extend the growing season in our polytunnels and heat other commercial or community buildings. We hope to then explore some other community energy projects.”

“Almost everyone now knows that something needs to happen to address our changing climate, and through understanding immediate local needs, doing something practical and positive to address them together and communicating through trusted people across the village, we’ve brought some excitement and relevance, today, to climate action here at home in Fallin.”

You can read more about the work of Fallin Community Voice here. Follow them here and learn directly from them by accessing the Community Learning Exchange.