About Us
The Gaskell Garden Project is based in Manchester, and started out in 2014 as a growing group of friends, which included refugees & asylum seekers as well as UK citizens, who gardened together in the tradition of permaculture, sold surplus produce and used the money raised to further the welfare of our refugee & asylum seeker friends.
As we grew, we began to run workshops, both at home and at festivals, as well as running our own events. We saw both our volunteers and our refugees & asylum seekers grow in all sorts of ways, and began to understand the potential of our work.
Out of this was born the Gaskell Garden Project as it is now, and our Sponsorship Programme, which sponsors refugees & asylum seekers to help their meet their needs in their new environment. Crucially, however, the ethos of equality and friendship runs deep – they are our friends, rather than service users.
You can read more about our sponsorship programme here.
We our very proud to be named in the honour of our late, great friends James and Alex Gaskell.
Our Mission
Our official mission, as set out in our constitution, is to create a creative, safe and accessible garden space where we can advance social and emotional well-being, promote cultural cohesion and combat social isolation for, but not limited to, refugees and asylum seekers. We aim to engage, include and encourage all abilities of its participants and enable users to develop life skills such as teamwork and problem solving to increase confidence and well-being. We aim to combat the difficulties of social and cultural integration and provide a platform in which cultures meet, social networks can be established, wisdom can be exchanged and food can be shared. Our sponsorship project achieves this mission through a variety of activities, including:
- Growing food with local refugees & asylum seekers.
- Teaching local volunteers & refugees how to use the principles of permaculture to enhance community well-being
- Organising events of every flavour: sports, music, gardening, and social; to reduce social isolation and to enhance cultural integration
- Providing legal support to persons seeking through local organisations.
- Fundraising in support of legal campaigns through a monthly Pay As You Feel Meal and a bi-monthly music event called Freedom Matters.
- Up-cycling bicycles for use by local refugees & asylum seekers.
- Creating a community support network between local volunteers and refugees & asylum seekers
- Creating a safe space for persons seeking refuge
Get Involved
Now that you know about us, we want to get to know you. See below for a few examples of how you can get involved!