Greening up the grey

Sheerness High Street will be a lot more colourful thanks to the dedicated volunteers of the Safer Streets gardening scheme.

The “greening up the grey” campaign is being run by local charity Sheppey Matters and is funded by Swale Borough Council’s Safer Streets project.

In an effort to add colour and greenery to Sheerness the group of hard-working volunteers clear and plant new flowers in the planters along the high street and pick up litter as they go.

They plan to continue planting seeds and bulbs to make sure Sheerness blooms next spring and to help crucial pollinators survive.

The Community Gardener scheme also organises regular family fun days with the latest being a sensory nature scavenger hunt and litter pick, where children learned about the impact of littering.

Attendees received a free gift and certificate to celebrate the young “Litter Hero” and to help reinforce responsible behaviour.

Earlier this year the scheme worked with Sheppey College students to garden, plant summer bulbs and water the planters at Beachfields, whilst discussing the anti-social behaviour they had witnessed.

Another element of the scheme is regular community litter picking days where they collect multiple bags worth of waste that have been abandoned in the green spaces and on the streets around the healthy living centre in Beachfields.

Swale Borough Council, through the Community Safety Partnership, worked with the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner to secure £265,616 from the Government’s Safer Streets Fund.

The money is being invested into measures in Sittingbourne and Sheerness Town Centres that help tackle the higher level of crime, antisocial behaviour and violence against women and girls.

Cllr Richard Palmer, chair of Swale Borough Council’s Community Committee, said:

“Having a clean, green and vibrant environment will go a long way towards helping people feel a sense of pride in where they live.

“We are grateful to be able help fund this initiative; the efforts of the volunteers now, will make Sheerness High Street bloom with beautiful flowers next year.

“Our Safer Streets project is working to tackle the root cause of antisocial behaviour, through youth engagement, as well as implement measures to actively stop crime, such as the marshalls, and prevent it, with things like new CCTV cameras.”

Cllr Elliott Jayes, vice chair of the Community Committee, said:

“Youth work is incredibly important to us - in order to create lasting change, we need to make sure our future generations are brought up in a positive environment.

“We have dedicated a large portion of the Safer Streets fund to help youth centres, work with schools to implement antisocial behaviour education programs and funded things like this gardening scheme.

“We know youth provision in Swale, and the whole of Kent, is under pressure due to government and Kent County Council budget cuts, so we will continue to do everything we can to support the organisations that are doing this invaluable work.”

Gemma Hunt, Sheppey Matters Community Gardener, said:

“Undeterred by the typical British weather, the incredible volunteers are doing a fantastic job of removing litter, pruning some existing plants, and planting daffodil and muscari bulbs to compliment the crocus bulbs planted by the Minster on Sea Rotary Club last year.

“We will continue our efforts along the High Street toward Beachfields, clearing litter and planting additional bulbs to ensure Sheerness blooms next Spring.”

The next family event will be during the October half term - if you’re interested in volunteering and making a difference in your community, please reach out to gemma@sheppeymatters.org.uk or call the Sheppey Matters Office at 01795 585335.

Share this article on Facebook Share this article on X