It's gardening gloves off and walking boots on for all the fabulous volunteers at Jock Tamson's Gairden who will be taking part in the Edinburgh Kiltwalk on Sunday 15 September 2024 to raise funds to support our amazing community garden in Edinburgh. Marion, Jonny, Cathy, Ian, Serena, John, Fiona, Paddy, Andrew, Lindsay, Adam, Martyn, Debs, Annmarie, Rowena, Jon, Gail, Sue, Iain and Lizz are Team Jock's Walkers. They'll be digging out their tartan and counting on you to support them every mile of the way!

Jock Tamson's Gairden is an open green space which is home to community gardens in a beautiful park setting on the banks of Duddingston Loch. The roots of this gairden are in the diligent labours and enthusiasm of a team of volunteers and groups drawn from the community of Edinburgh. The name comes from that well-loved Scottish saying 'we're a' Jock Tamson's bairns' or in English 'we're all John Thomson's children' and celebrates the egalitarian nature of what we do here: it is a garden for the whole community, welcoming everyone regardless of age, ability, sexuality or background.

The Gairden plays host to many regular groups (Upmo, Tiphereth and U3A) and provides a peaceful haven for anyone simply popping in. Our project manager Lizz, community gardener Ian, and the volunteers grow fruit, vegetables and flowers for sale through local outlets and organisations as well as for donation to charitable agencies in the city. We bring together people from diverse backgrounds, including retired people and primary school pupils, to help improve inter-generational communication and alleviate social isolation. We work with organisations such as Family Journeys, Macmillan Cancer Support and Edinburgh Community Yoga.

People volunteer with us for a wide variety of reasons: mental health challenges, seeking new skills to improve employment prospects, social isolation and/or loneliness, recovery from alcohol/drug abuse, a desire to give something back to society, a need to be out of doors and in touch with nature, those suffering a bereavement, and people who are neuro-diverse and find it hard to fit in with other projects.

Your donation will help us to continue to offer a wide range of volunteering opportunities and will also help fund special projects throughout the year, such as the development of a fully accessible herb garden and pollinators' paradise.

If you would like to find out more about what we do, we would love to show you around the Gairden or you can go to our website https://www.jocktamsonsgairden.org.uk/