Breathing life into empty spaces

A disused backyard space at Shire Salvos Miranda food relief and assistance centre has been transformed into a community garden.

A disused yard area behind a Salvation Army building in southern Sydney has been transformed into a community garden.

Shire Salvos Miranda is The Salvation Army’s area hub for food relief and assistance in southern Sydney. A former corps building, the site still hosts worshipping communities on Sundays and during the week, but its main purpose is to meet people’s needs through food assistance, a caring community and specialised services.

There are two buildings on the one site – one in the shape of a 1960s citadel that’s been added onto and retrofitted for different purposes, and the other an old red-brick house that has been converted to office space. A ‘backyard’ joins the two – a grassy space that, until now, served as a thoroughfare for staff and volunteers between the two buildings. 

A plan is in place for a complete redevelopment of the site, but that’s a few years away, and the wasted area was weighing on the mind of long-term volunteer Alex Simpson, who decided to share his vision for the space.

“How about we create a community garden?” he suggested. The idea took root, and Shire Salvos Miranda Mission Leader Lieutenant-Colonel David Godkin and Community Coordinator Moira Guthrie began discussing the possibility with some of the regular community members who accessed the centre for assistance.

Excitement began to build.

Nothing is done in isolation at Shire Salvos, and soon, Bunnings Kirrawee jumped on board to help and supplied a planter box and plants. The local Caringbah Rotary Club welcomed the opportunity to partner and provided some planter boxes and volunteers, and a local landscaping company provided the soil. On a sunny day in early April, the raised garden beds were erected and planted with vegetables and herbs.

“The goal is to provide a place for our community members to come and feel a sense of belonging, meaning and responsibility by tending to and maintaining the garden beds,” says Shire Salvos Miranda Community Coordinator Moira Guthrie. “The community garden will also provide fresh produce for the people in need that we serve here at our centre.

“Our community members are really excited; many have put their hands up to volunteer and are eager to be part of this wonderful community initiative. We are thrilled that Alex shared his dream with us and that it has now come to fruition!”