WHO ARE WE

The community-led Maxwell Centre and Garden has been at the heart of the Coldside area for over 20 years. We have an outstanding reputation nationally for delivering a holistic project for wellbeing through support services, youth work and our community garden and outreach. 

We are determined to make our communities stronger, more resilient and adaptable to change but also build the capacity to change our local environment for the better, have important conversations about climate and social change and demonstrate how this can be achieved at the neighbourhood level across Dundee.

 

OUR PROJECT

We will make food growing more accessible to everyone in Dundee to learn and experience environmental action first hand in people’s own neighbourhood in three ways: 

 

1. A NEW DUNDEE FOOD GROWING MAP and EVENT CALENDAR

• Over 30 community growing spaces to visit.  Access to 100s of events to attend and volunteering opportunities throughout the year. 
• Community Gardens will increase their capacity and visibility through the Dundee Food Growing / Community Garden Network, training and support. 
• Volunteers will gain from better physical and mental health and local biodiversity will be improved. 
• Neighbours will benefit from gaining new skills and friendships and access free local produce, increasingly important with the cost of living crisis and given that £1 out of every £10 we spend is on food and that 30% of greenhouse emissions in the UK are from food production.

 

2. REVAMPED FOOD GROWING TOOL AND SEED LIBRARY

We aim to save people money and reduce waste and carbon emissions through these activities and increase the food growing spaces and their productivity across our city.

• Borrow tools and books to get growing your own food
• Free access to one-to-one advice,
• Free seeds, seedlings, cuttings and plants and
• 40+ free weekly workshops.

 

3. YOUTH-LED FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE EVENTS

• Each month we will focus on different climate-related topics to enable and support our community to reflect, learn and take action for a greener and fairer Dundee. 
• We’ll celebrate food, nature and community through free gigs in the garden, films, food, games, conversations for change, etc. 

 

LONG TERM VISION

We are committed to sustaining this project beyond this funding opportunity.

There is a strong momentum amongst community growing spaces, with our new Dundee Food Growing / Community Gardens Network and Grow Dundee group that will keep engaging people in Dundee.

This project is a unique opportunity to deliver and promote, through experience and example at community gardens, many of the objectives laid out in Dundee’s Climate Action Plan and the 20-minute Neighbourhood concept for sustainability. 

Dundee, 1833. The age of steam power.  

Thousands of Dundonians work in the factories and mills, producing textiles for sale across the country and across the world. It is a time of rich opportunities, but also unprecedented social challenges. And it is the beginning of a dangerous increase in carbon emissions, which today threatens all life on our planet...  

Dundee, 2022. The age of climate change.  

A new industrial revolution is afoot. Green technology is changing the way we live and work, and has the potential to make life better and fairer for everyone. But how can we harness it? And how can we make sure no-one gets left behind?  

 

We are Dundee Heritage Trust, proud custodian of Dundee’s only industrial heritage museum: Verdant Works.

This is the engine-room of the city’s industrial past.  

But now, as we embark on our own green journey, WE NEED YOUR HELP! 

 

Verdant Works is based in an original Grade A-Listed Victorian mill building from the 1830s, run by a lively team of staff and volunteers, and holds a nationally significant collection, including an original steam engine and large-scale replicas of the machines used by Dundee mill-workers for over a hundred years.  

Our machines all run on electricity today – meaning we don’t have to burn coal to demonstrate to our learners and visitors how these magnificent machines worked in the past.  

But because so much of our building is old, we are still powered in many places by gas: a fossil fuel which, when burned, releases carbon dioxide and other harmful gases into the atmosphere.  

By replacing the gas heating in our Machine Hall with a low-carbon electric solution, our project aims to save nearly a tonne of greenhouse gases every year – the same as 11 flights from Edinburgh to Stornoway! – and will help us keep this space warm for learners and visitors as they get to know the story of the mill from industrial powerhouse to a green museum for the  21st century from our enthusiastic volunteers and award-winning education tours and workshops.

And, by installing the same system in our beautiful but sadly underused High Mill, we will open up entirely new opportunities for green community activities, exhibitions, and events involving the whole community.

 

With your support, this exciting project will enable us to:

🗸 Keep our volunteers guides warm in winter to run our much-loved heritage machinery demonstrations for the public.

🗸 Host more schools for tours and workshops designed to get students thinking about important climate topics, such as the industrial revolution, climate change,  STEM for the future, green technology, and how museums can help the planet in the 21st century.

🗸 Host more sustainable events and exhibitions with local businesses, community groups, artists, and makers.

🗸 Pioneer a new Green Verdant Works Action Plan to further improve our sustainability and reduce our carbon footprint.

 

HELP US START OUR GREEN INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.

Vote to keep Dundee’s heritage alive and its future at Verdant green!