Have you learned a new skill or created anything while stuck at home due to COVID-19 restrictions this year? Are you wondering what to do with all the rainbows you or your kids made to show your support for the NHS?

If so, we want your stuff (or photos of it)! We’re hoping to create a display for the Rainbow Garden, to celebrate all the amazing things which friends of the garden have done while we were physically apart during 2020.

Send photos of your artwork to us in a Facebook message at https://www.facebook.com/rainbowgardenhull

Or, if you want to bring something you’ve made to the garden for us to photograph, just get in touch to arrange it.

We look forward to sharing the results with you all soon 🙂

Thanks to some real community spirit, we’ve begun to reopen our gates in response to easing of coronavirus restrictions. Because the safety of staff, volunteers and visitors is paramount, access to the garden is provided by appointment only. But we are delighted that, along with other hygiene precautions, a newly built washing station has already allowed regular volunteers to benefit from arranged sessions.

While lockdown restrictions have been in place, staff at the garden have kept in contact with the garden community using social media platforms and the – slightly more old-fashioned, but trusty – telephone! This has been a lifeline for many, including Marie, who says:

lockdown has been really difficult for us and … having people that genuinely care and reach out to see if you’re ok has kept me going…My girls loved gardening club and being able to send in photos of what they’ve grown at home and be encouraged to grow at home by being given plants from rainbow garden has given them something to look forward to

Marie

It’s thanks to its amazing community that Rainbow Gardens are now able to begin welcoming visitors and volunteers back. The new washing station was custom-built by a friend of the garden, who specially adapted it so that it can be operated using a foot pump. This reduces touch points to improve COVID safety. The sink top was kindly donated to the garden after an appeal was put out via Facebook.

Extra hand sanitising stations have also been put in place, along with signage and markings to help people maintain social distancing. Of course, staff at the garden will continue to keep abreast of government guidelines but they are dedicated to ensuring that as many people as possible can enjoy the space again, safely. Our volunteers say:

It means a lot to me to be back at the garden. I can see my friends and I like to be back outside working and to have something to get up for and not feel isolated in my house

Alan

It’s lovely to have the garden back; it’s like having an old friend back in my life

Anonymous

If you’d like to book a session, you can either send a message to the Garden’s Facebook page or call Brenda on 07746 723804. In the meantime, if you are unable to book an appointment or perhaps don’t yet feel ready to venture out in person, you can take a virtual tour.

Here at Rainbow Garden Hull we’ve been carefully considering the rapidly changing Government guidelines on controlling coronavirus, looking for ways to safely welcome people back to the community garden.

We are now delighted to be in the process of reopening our gates. But we still have to proceed with caution, and of course any plans we make will have to be adapted to respond  to any changes in the COVID situation or guidelines.

To begin with, we are prioritising those Rainbow Garden volunteers who are most vulnerable and isolated. With them, we are trialing a booking system which allows us to limit the number of people in the garden at any one time. This enables the necessary social distancing measures to be taken.

We are also testing our hygiene and policy protocols so that in the near future, we hope to be able welcome more people back to the garden. One of our innovations is a new washing station 🙂

We’ll post further updates when we are ready to reopen more widely, letting you know how to book an appointment and what you can expect during a visit.

You can also keep up with what we are doing on Facebook or contact us with any specific questions. Please bear with us – we look forward to seeing you soon!