Financial support for garden

The Docklands Community Garden has received a cash injection and ongoing financial support from local business Melbourne Facilities Management (MFM).

MFM general manager and local resident Cheryl Andrews said she was happy to help out, after learning of the garden at an owners’ corporation meeting.

MFM has contributed $1000 for new soil as well as $100 per month for a year for ongoing maintenance.

Garden spokesperson Greg Wise said Ms Andrews would also “lend” her able-bodied workers to help with difficult and heavy tasks from time to time.

“Cheryl’s team will also be available to help, which will take some of the pressure off those of us with ageing backs,” Mr Wise said.

He said the garden was “enormously grateful” for the funds to renew the soil, which had been depleted over the past decade with three plantings per year.

“I means we no longer have to spend $500 or $600 every year on organic fertiliser to refresh the nutrient-depleted soil,” he said.

He predicted the new soil would last four or five years.

Mr Wise said many corporations had expressed interest in helping the garden but Ms Andrews was the only business to actually follow through with financial assistance.

“Cheryl has a strong community ethic and has now demonstrated her desire to support voluntary community initiatives in Docklands,” Mr Wise said.

Ms Andrews has also personally joined the more than 80 local volunteers who look after the garden, watering on Tuesday afternoons and helping out on weekends.

Mr Wise said: “Together we will all be able to make the garden even more attractive and appealing to the community and help enhance Docklands’ culture as a result of our relationship with our first ever corporate sponsor.”

The Docklands Community Garden operates entirely from self-generated funds and receives no financial assistance from the City of Melbourne.

It’s a local community success story that brings people together through an interest in horticulture.

“The garden draws people to it,” Mr Wise said. “It’s a great common denominator.”

Mr Wise said it was not unusual for 30 to 40 volunteers to turn out for major events at the garden. It is so popular, that there are waiting lists for some of the volunteer roster positions.

The garden’s next initiative is to explore the installation of two beehives.