Gardening charity is growing places with new £2.2m hub
A GARDENING charity based in Port Glasgow is growing places thanks to a new £2.2 million community hub and training cafe.
Parklea Branching Out is celebrating the official opening of its Community Hub & Branches Café which has been delivered thanks to support from Inverclyde Council, the Scottish Government and 15 individual funders.
The facility is based within the charity’s existing grounds and also features offices, meeting spaces, accessible toilets and changing rooms, training facilities and garden retail space.
Work started in June 2023 and was led by INCH Architects and completed earlier this year by main contractor Eycon Ltd.
The café started serving its first customers last month as part of a ‘soft launch’, alongside trainees, but was officially opened on Thursday 5 December 2024 with the help of Provost of Inverclyde, Drew McKenzie.
The Port Glasgow charity was established in 1997 and uses horticulture to provide training, work experience, supported employment, and recreational and social facilities for a variety of people, including young people and adults with additional support needs.
Sharon Gemmell, manager of Parklea Branching Out, said: “This project has been 18 months in the making and we are all over the moon to be here celebrating the opening of the Community Hub the Branches Café.
“The hub will allow us to provide further support to our clients with a learning disability and additional support needs and offer new training and work opportunities.
“We have been here for 27 years but this new development brings us into the 21st Century and really complements the existing facilities and wider Parklea environment that will improve the experience for staff, volunteers, clients, and visitors.”
The project is supported by £1.3m of funding from the Scottish Government through the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF) and £270,000 from Inverclyde Council with the remaining balance covered by several funders and use of reserves.
Employment Minister Tom Arthur said: “This café will enable people with learning disabilities and additional support needs to meet friends and develop new skills.
“The Scottish Government has allocated more than £62 million for regeneration projects in this week’s draft Budget to help communities across Scotland to prosper into the future.”
The council has also provided financial and practical support to help develop and deliver the hub.
Councillor Michael McCormick, Inverclyde Council’s convener of environment and regeneration, said: “Parklea Branching Out has really blossomed into one of Inverclyde’s foremost charities providing training opportunities for people with disabilities and additional support needs while providing beautiful plants and flowers for local residents and businesses at affordable prices.
“The community hub and training café is an excellent addition to the first-class service Parklea provides and will create further opportunities for everyone.
“It’s also a welcome addition to the Inverclyde waterfront with a brilliant new attraction for people from near and far to enjoy while they discover the local area.”
The charity is based next to Parklea Community Sports Facility.
The development will support the group’s range of growing activities for people with additional support needs and the wider Inverclyde community.
As well as working with adults and children with learning and/or physical disabilities, the charity also supports people with mental health problems, school leavers, young and long term unemployed, elderly groups and community groups.
Parklea also provides training in partnership with the council’s community, learning and development service to SVQ level in horticulture and employability programmes.
For more information about Parklea Branching Out, visit parkleaassociation.org.uk.
