Celebrating 20 Years: Brightening Up Unused Green Spaces in Brookfield and St Matthews

This year we are celebrating Community Gateway’s 20^th birthday by giving back to our communities through 20 projects. 

Our latest project focused on improving communal spaces in Brookfield and St Matthews following reports of fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour (ASB) in these areas.

Our Community Fund supports projects that have a positive impact on our communities and our charitable subsidiary, Preston Vocational Centre (PVC) successfully secured funding to support us in creating cleaner, greener and safer communities. 

During our community pop ups, tenants living in St Matthews raised concerns of fly-tipping and ASB around Wilbraham Street. Working closely with local tenants and residents, we gathered valuable insight into areas most affected by these issues and one of the ideas suggested was that we install planters in unused communal spaces to help brighten up the area whilst also acting as a deterrent to fly-tipping and anti-social gatherings.

PVC did a great job constructing and installing two planters in the area and since then, local tenants have also added two more of their own planters to maintain, creating a space that tenants can enjoy and feel proud of.

Tenants living in Brookfield also reported recurring cases of fly-tipping on the grassed area outside the Brookfield shops. We spoke to tenants in the area who also said the space would benefit from communal planter beds, to help improve the look and feel of the space and deter fly-tipping.

PVC constructed and installed the bed, helping the community reclaim the space.

These projects are just one of the ways we are working together with external partners and local people to create cleaner, greener and safer neighbourhoods where communities can thrive. 

If you would like to get involved in any of our community improvement projects and help make your community an even better place to live, please complete the form below and we will be in touch.