Polwarth Parish Church in Edinburgh is located beside The Union Canal but a new imaginative initiative in partnership with Scottish Canals and the Armed Forces will make it the Kirk on the Canal.
By September it is intended that work will be completed to create a garden space that begins in the grounds of the church, will go through the existing boundary wall with the erection of a new gate and will create on the canal side a new garden and decking area complete with mooring, so transforming the present overgrown area into a place dedicated to peace and well-being.
When Polwarth Church asked to adopt the portion of the Canal adjacent to its grounds they wanted to do more than keep the area clean of rubbish. The minister, the Rev Jack Holt said, “From the outset our intention was to create an access onto the canal and so provide a point of contact with the growing number of diverse communities that use the water, the towpath and the amenities of Harrison Park.”
With architect plans and surveys in place the Scottish Canals and Historic Scotland gave permission for the project to go ahead.
The unexpected part of the venture was where the funding eventually came from: the Armed Forces Community Covenant, a grant scheme to help integrate the Armed Forces into the local community. In investigating this funding stream the Church was approached by an army veterans charity Back Out There¸ that was looking for an area in Edinburgh where gardening as a therapy could be undertaken. This award-winning charity will create floral versions of the local church’s logo and that of the Ministry of Defence within the grounds.
Ray Howie, a retired veteran and landscape gardener employed by the charity said, “I will come from Fife to sit in the floral garden as there will be nowhere else like it in the East of Scotland.”
Polwarth Church agreed that its existing grounds could be used for this purpose and this partnership allowed the Church to eventually gain a grant from the Community Covenant to create the new garden by the canal.
A final outcome to this combination of partnerships is that Scottish Canals seeing the success of the project now wish to expand the moorings alongside that of the church to further develop the area for greater waterway usage as part of their and Edinburgh Council’s strategy for what is called the ‘Harrison Park Hub.’
The minister said, “A small, hard-working team from the congregation are to be congratulated on bringing this project to completion. We look forward to opening our grounds and gardens to veterans and their families, the local schools, resident of care homes, special needs groups and visitors to and users of the canal as a place of peace.”
Work of breaking through the wall and creating the garden began in the second half of July and the Grand Opening with representation from the Council, Scottish Canals and the Armed Forces has been pencilled in for 12 September.
For more information contact:
Maureen Bowman (project co-ordinator), 443 7507 [email protected]
Dawn Whittaker (project manager) 443 0096 [email protected]