Author: cscgtadmin

June 18, 2020

Join our Board of Trustees

Christchurch South Community Gardens Trust are looking for volunteers to join their Board. A few positions are available to grow a mix of skills. No prior experience is necessary, just a willingness to get involved.

As a board member you will join as one of approx 70 volunteers who maintain our garden and 4 other board members. There is a wealth of talent and energy given to the trust and the community gardens on a daily basis – from gardening and pickling to landscaping and building.

Some volunteers contribute their time independently several times each week, others come occasionally, as part of a group, or supported by a social service provider. There is a niche and a role for everyone at the gardens.

Responsibilities
Input includes one meeting per month plus other committee work as able. In return you’ll be part of a productive, active community development project, helping us to support a sustainable neighbourhood.

Areas of involvement could include:
– Public Relations
– Policy Development
– Not For Profit Business Planning
– Human Resource Support
– Fundraising
– Community Networking and Education
– Promotion of Neighbourhood Sustainability
– Social Media
– General Governance
– Building and Gardening

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Our mission

To develop a resource for the Christchurch community that actively supports a sustainable neighbourhood and enhances social well-being through participation in a neighbourhood community garden..

Core values of the CSCGT

– Food Security & Health Promotion
– Neighbourhood Sustainability & Education
– Beautification of the Environment & Waste Minimisation
– Promotion of Community Development & Social Wellbeing
– Enhancing cultural understandingPositions are available on our Board of Trustees

Job Types: Part-time, Volunteer

April 18, 2017

How does everything work here? – Part 1: Participation

One of the most common questions we get from people visiting the site for the first time is – “How does everything work here?”

In this blog series, we’ll provide short post on each and every aspect of our operations and hopefully get you to understanding how things work at CSCG on a daily basis.

Participation

When people contact us via email or phone, or more usually via dropping by, we find out what it is that they want to do and match that with the tasks we need to be working on. Ideally people will be happy to slot in with whatever task needs doing at the time.

Some people want a small taste of the type of work done on a community gardens or are only available for a short time, others are looking to find a suitable social group to engage with, others just like the outdoor work and /or the feeling of group cooperation towards a common goal.

Volunteer days are currently Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday 11am – 3pm. This means the sheds are open and tools available. Unless you are a very experienced gardener – we would prefer you garden with us initially and get a sense of what tasks are available and likewise we get a sense of your skill level.

Popular days are Thursday and Saturday when we put on a worker’s lunch. Tuesday and Wednesday people bring their own lunch. We discuss the work to be done on the hoof and allocate according to skill level and preference.

With the exception of a couple of small plots planted by pre-schools , the work is done collectively. It is not common for people to garden directly for plants and produce but the option is there. The staff and key volunteers decide what and how much volunteers can have.

We also provide training. You can request to learn something specific and someone may be available to spend some time with you on this if it fits in with our daily work of nursery work, compost and crop production.

We enjoy getting physically, mentally and socially involved with this project and strongly believe in the value of retaining essential horticultural and self sufficiency skills for the benefit of future generations.

The future indeed may be very dirty, with work that involves getting hands dirty being valued rather than vilified. Dr Susan Krumdiek, an engineering expert in Alternative Energy, Canterbury University) stated in a seminar I once went to, that in the future, sustainable communities will have specialist community food producers who also manage community waste. As we seek to minimise our carbon footprint and become less car-dependent, vital decentralised fresh food producing hubs will form.