Pub extends community garden to ‘combat loneliness’

14-Apr-2023 - Last updated on 14-Apr-2023 at 08:20 GMT

Community space: the garden at the Tafarn y Plu in Gwynedd gives locals the chance to grow their own food in a safe and friendly environment

A north Wales pub has diversified its community garden and allotment to encourage residents to “get together” and help ease “loneliness and isolation”.

Tafarn y Plu in Gwynedd, also known as the Feathers Inn, has received funding from Pub is the Hub as part of a Community Services Grant to help purchase raised beds, create a “sensory garden” and improve garden pathways to promote its accessibility. Local residents also helped to revamp the garden, putting in 70 hours of work in preparation for spring.

Publican Siôn Jones said: “The community garden will give local people the chance to grow their own food in a safe and friendly environment. The contact offered by gardening in an allotment environment will be a great help to combat social isolation in this rural area”.

Expansion plans

The expansion includes plans for local children to be educated on “how to grow their own food”, and for the garden’s “sensory and wellbeing area” to be opened.

“We also have plans for a self-service garden hut, where people can leave a donation and purchase fresh food grown in the garden”, added Jones.

The pub is located in Llanystumdwy, which is the home village of former Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Purchased by locals in 2019, it is part of a community benefit society known as Menter y Plu (the Feather Initiative).

Rural communities

Tafarn y Plu is the second pub to benefit from a two-year programme set up by Pub is the Hub, in partnership with The Prince’s Countryside Fund, which has afforded the programme a £25,000 grant. Pub is the Hub, which is a non-profit organisation, aims to afford expert advice to help pubs “diversify” and provide “much-needed local services and amenities to rural communities”.

Pub is the Hub Wales regional advisor Malcolm Harrison said: “This community garden will be an ideal place for people of all ages to get together and socialise. This pub is helping people form friendships and connections in a healthy, outdoor environment.”

Alongside the project, Tafarn y Plu is used for community activities including a darts club, book club, a learn Welsh group and a monthly clothes exchange.

“The raised beds, along with the new accessible pathway, means the project can include everyone from older people with mobility issues, to the disabled to young children”, added Jones.