In Autumn 2018, Tesco customers in Oban and Lochgilphead voted with their charity tokens for a proposed St Conan’s Garden upgrade. The Bags for Life scheme has awarded us £2000  for our proposal  “To upgrade the garden with easily accessible terraces, information boards, outdoor seating and to organise children’s activities“.

We have now begun to progress our plans which we described as:

“to encourage the local community, and in particular children, to learn about the building’s environment by upgrading the gardens of the Kirk to make the terrain easily accessible for children, adults and those with disabilities. The garden would have terraces, pathways, various types of seating and information boards giving facts about the exterior of the building, its history and its natural surroundings. With the advice of local horticulturists the garden would be planted with native plants to enhance the gardens and the building. Children’s activities would be organised linked with local schools to include a children’s planting area and planned cultural visits for both outside and inside the building. Funding for future maintenance of the gardens will be included in the project to maintain a permanent relaxing and beautiful area for locals and visitors to enjoy and spend time in.”

The £2000 from Tesco is enabling us to make real progress with our plans. New seating is on order and at the March 30th 2019 Volunteering Day  we began work on the proposed paths and designated a wildlife area. We plan  to involve local schoolchildren in helping to plant up the wildlife area and will have a further Garden Volunteering Day in May or June. The date will be finalised shortly!

Thank you to Tesco for their support in helping us make the gardens an even more special place!