Our History: Community Garden Support in Northern Ireland
We are a community development and community gardening charity, which formed in January 2025. The staff team who formed Community Garden Support have worked together for over 7 years supporting community gardens in Northern Ireland, and advancing the profile and policy support for community growing nationally. We previously worked together for Social Farms & Gardens, and we are proud of our history with the organisation, and strive to retain strong working links with our colleagues in England, Scotland and Wales.
We formed as a company limited by Guarantee and registered as a charity in 2025.
Past Staff
We must acknowledge the contribution of our past staff member, and co lead at Community Garden Support, Patricia Wallace, who retired in March 2026. Patricia Wallace is a professionally qualified Community Development Worker. She has extensive experience in the charity and voluntary sector and has also worked in local and devolved government in NI and Scotland.
She was an elected Local Councillor for the Women’s Coalition 2001-2005 sitting on the Environment and Amenities Committee and worked as a Constituency Aide for the Women’s Coalition at Stormont.
She is a graduate of the Harvard Leadership Course for emerging leaders. She worked for Social Farms & Gardens 2018-2024 as NI Manager bringing together her community development and environment skills. She jointly managed the charity UK wide in an Executive Team, from 2022-2024, and worked tirelessly to establish Community Garden Support in 2025.