Nene Nursery forms an important part of Your Community Greenspace, our overarching National Lottery Heritage Fund project to make Ferry Meadows an inclusive outdoor community hub. 

Our volunteer-run horticultural nursery at the entrance to Ferry Meadows Country Park. will create an inclusive, safe and accessible community space that will:

• Help our local communities connect with nature, grow understanding and skills and accrue health and wellbeing benefits.
• Allow us to propagate plants and trees for use in the Park and elsewhere, providing a sustainable route to support the parks natural heritage and biodiversity.
• Strengthen the volunteering offer and capacity at Nene Park.
• In time, and with expert help, pilot a therapeutic horticulture / social prescribing service bringing real benefits to local people with health issues.

We are very pleased to have secured two grants that will help move forward our exciting plans the nursery.

The Augean Community Fund, using money provided by Augean under the Landfill Communities Fund, have kindly granted £16,000 towards the construction of the nursery as well as tools and equipment including our first cargo e-bike to deliver plants across our estate.

The RHS Flourish Fund is part of an initiative by the Royal Horticultural Society to attract and support a wider range of people to work in horticulture. We have secured £15,000 through this fund, allowing us to offer two six-month work placements and RHS Level 2 training for graduates from our NEETS (young people Not in Education Employment or Training) work experience programme, alongside a two-year Horticulture Apprentice opportunity based at the nursery.

Our heartfelt thanks to all the funders and supporters of this impactful project. Watch this space for further updates in the coming months as Nene Nursery begins to take shape.

The Nene Nursery space is taking shape with a shed and polytunnel being put up. Over the next few months we’ll be putting in raised beds and making the space wheelchair accessible. We’re really excited about the opportunities this space will bring to the Park and to Peterborough. As well as the obvious benefit of growing plants for the Park, this will be a safe and welcoming space for all to access. We will work in partnership with NHS Prescribers to deliver wellbeing sessions, so that more people can enjoy that feel-good serotonin boost that comes from getting your hands in the soil and growing something. And we will be looking at how we can connect with other groups in Peterborough so they too can access the nursery and enjoy those benefits.