Cross Green Growing Together community garden is a volunteer-led charity in East Leeds where local people come together to grow, learn and support one another. We are committed to creating a safe space where everyone feels welcome, valued and able to take part. Through strong community support, we bring people together to build confidence, improve wellbeing and strengthen local connections. Cross Green Growing Together worked alongside residents to improve the local area. In partnership with Hyde Park Source, a grassroots environmental organisation, we have developed projects that promote sustainability, learning and community involvement. We run relaxed, community-led activities designed to provide support, reduce isolation and help people develop new skills.
Our sessions currently include:
Weekly gardening group
Weekly community meal
After School Club
Healthy Holidays provision
Weekly cooking group with digital skills
Weekly Digital Drop-In
These activities create opportunities for people of all ages to connect, learn and feel part of their community.
The ‘Growing Together’ project launched in 2014 as a weekly gardening group run by Hyde Park Source, creating a communal garden space on an unused alleyway bridge. The group was led by local residents through Cross Green Community Group, a self-help group formed to improve health, wellbeing and connection in the area. With many residents experiencing social isolation due to poor transport links and people living alone, the project aimed to reduce loneliness and create opportunities for people to come together. By early 2015, the gardening group had grown into its own community-led project, with plans to transform derelict land alongside the railway into a productive growing space. With support from partners including Keepmoat, the site was developed through months of hard work, and by summer 2016 a polytunnel and raised beds had brought the space to life. In May 2018, Cross Green Growing Together became a registered charity, followed by the addition of a Community Hub building funded by Veolia. The garden continues to grow as a vital community space, supporting over 100 children and families in 2021 and expanding further in 2022 with the opening of the Cross Green Jubilee Garden.
