THREE months of hard work over the winter months has culminated in the unveiling of a community garden at the Gorse Hill allotments off Pinehurst Road.

The well-attended event coincided with the opening of a refurbished shop for use by allotment members.

Plot holders had the idea to transform a disused piece of land near the entrance to the allotments in an effort to combat under-use.

Many of the patches of land belong to elderly people who may not be able to tend to such a large space out in a field anymore.

They were staying away from the site and neglecting their plots but now, thanks to the work of a team of six volunteers, they can share a community garden space in the company of others.

One of the team, Mick Northcott, said: “There are 101 allotments on here that aren’t being used.

“But there are a lot of elderly people who can’t dig their own gardens even if they wanted to.

“But with the community garden, we will dig it, all they have to do is come along to put something in and then take something out at the end.

“It’s also good for the young kids, to teach them in a safe way.

“If you ask a kid these days where potatoes come from they’ll probably say Tesco - we might even look at going into some schools to encourage them to get involved.

“The front of the allotments was a mess before, but we’ve put some flowers out, some chives, we’ve done the fence and now this garden - as soon as you come through the gates it’s instantly better.”

Alongside the opening of the community garden, members of the Swindon Allotments And Leisure Gardens Association were also celebrating the renovation of their on-site shop.

The shop stocks composts, fertilisers, seeds and much more and money from sales are put back into the association’s activities.

Don Reeve, 84, who has been a SALGA member for more than 20 years, said: “Our volunteers have put in a lot of work.

“All the building and the painting - it looks so much nicer.

“It’s cleaner, tidier and with new shelves.”