Celebration of first anniversary of community garden in heart of West Bromwich

The public event at New Square celebrated the first anniversary of the planting of the urban green space as part of Green Roots on the Meadow on September 7, with the Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust leading the first meadow cutting since it was planted.

Led by community arts group Multistory, in partnership with Sandwell Council, the Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust and New Square West Bromwich, the meadow planting event in 2023 saw participation from volunteers dedicated to fostering biodiversity in the heart of the community.

The trust did two demonstrations of traditional cutting techniques and invited attendees to try their hand at meadow cutting, which it said was a crucial task to manage tough grasses and promote the propagation of wildflowers.

The trust also brought yellow rattle seeds to scatter over the meadow, with those attending also encouraged to spread the seeds and take packets to use at home.

The event also featured a special performance by the inclusive theatre company, Open Theatre and there will be a live rendition of the ‘Sounding the West Bromwich Way’ map created by Lee Mackenzie, Lorenzo Prati, Multistory and Sandwell Visually Impaired community members about the sounds and stories of West Bromwich.

There was also a brass band and other entertainment in and around the square in celebration of the one-year anniversary of Green Roots on the Meadow, a project which has been a collaborative effort to enhance urban green spaces in West Bromwich.

Emma Chetcuti from Multistory said the project was a way of saying that Sandwell should have more meadows and spoke of the importance of the anniversary.

She said: "The first cutting of the meadow is really important because it guarantees the meadow for next year and the plan is to continue planting and growing things in the meadow, involving more community members and creating a story and interest around how important nature and the environment is.

"That's for our wellbeing, the environment and for nature and animals and insects, so we're working with the Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust and this is an ongoing project.

"We'll be doing another event here next year and we hope we can do a bigger and better event and involve more local people."