Wythenshawe, Manchester
- Postcode Gardener: Catherine Clarke
- Hosted by: Sow the City
- Get in touch by contacting Emily Corner, Operations Manager
Postcode Gardener Catherine has worked at Sow the City for 2 years and is focused on nurturing connections within communities, as well as between people and nature. Sow the City is an award-winning social enterprise based in Manchester, which works with other organisations like the NHS to green urban spaces across the North West.
About the project
This Postcode Gardener project is all about connecting a community. Wythenshawe is on the outskirts of Manchester, with few public transport links, limited local services and a lack of community centres. So, whether it’s young people with additional learning needs, church groups, schools, mums and babies, or community groups supporting homeless people, Catherine and the team are working to bring together lots of different types of people.
The project is creating community growing spaces, supporting locals to manage, maintain and enjoy green areas. Not only is this improving biodiversity, but it’s also growing links between different parts of the community. The Wythenshawe project is driving social connections, helping previously disconnected groups get in touch with each other and spot new opportunities for collaboration.
Catherine and Sow the City are also giving people guidance on different greening activities. For example, they’ve shown one group how to create a small wildflower meadow on a patch of grass that was previously kept short. These kinds of activities will help them grow and measure biodiversity in the area.
Meet Catherine, the Postcode Gardener
A lot of our work is about helping people to get growing or to utilise outdoor spaces a little bit more in terms of opening their eyes to what's actually there.
Catherine has a background in conservation, having previously worked for organisations like the RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts. She joined Sow the City to focus more on people, as she believes human connection is one of the best ways to achieve our environmental and nature goals.
She’s delighted to take on the Postcode Gardener role, because as she explains, “you need people to connect to other people”. The project gives her the opportunity to support a whole range of people across the community, as well as help local residents become confident in growing and using their green spaces.
Protecting the natural world has been at the heart of The Co-operative Bank’s unique, customer-led Ethical Policy for over 30 years, driven by their customers’ concerns for biodiversity and the environment.
Postcode Gardeners are bringing communities together to help bring nature back. Through our partnership with The Co-operative Bank, we’re supporting Postcode Gardeners to restore wildlife and greenery in over 1,000 nature-deprived spaces across the country.
