Red Lonning Community Garden

The Red Lonning Community Centre Garden in Whitehaven is a growing community space transforming a former children’s day centre into a vibrant, welcoming garden at the heart of the estate. The quarter‑acre site offers indoor and outdoor facilities including a hall, kitchen, toilets, sheltered sowing area, parking, raised beds, composting systems and a developing polytunnel.

The garden has been building steadily over the past year, with volunteers growing a wide range of produce from carrots, chard, cabbage, peas, and kale to rhubarb and apples, using a sustainable, circular approach which includes cow‑manure composting and liquid feed from a wormery. Plans are underway to create a sensory garden and additional growing spaces as the project expands.

Open to everyone on Thursdays and Saturdays, 10am - 12pm, the garden provides a friendly place to learn, grow and connect. Produce supports volunteers, shared lunch events and future food parcels for local residents in need. The centre also welcomes school visits, helping children understand where food comes from and how it grows, from seed to plate.