Salvation Army volunteers restore York community garden
published on 12 Jun 2026
A group of Salvation Army volunteers have helped transform a local community garden bringing colour and beauty to a forgotten space.
Volunteers from York Salvation Army and the church and charity’s Early Intervention and Prevention Team helped restore the outside space at Lidgett Grove Methodist Church.
They reinstated planter beds, planted flowers and vegetables, which will be used to supplement the food bank held at the church in Wheatlands Grove.
Major Andrew Vertigan, who leads York Salvation Army with his wife Andrea, said: “It had been a struggle to maintain a community garden at the church since the Covid pandemic so as part of our commitment to working together with Lidgett we took it on as a project.
“We had a team of about 10 community helpers, many of them we’d met at Christmas when they helped us sort and pack Christmas presents as part of our present appeal.
“We cleared a van load of weeds, shrubs and rubbish, reinstated the old planter beds and created some new ones which we’re starting to fill with flowers and fruit and vegetables. All being well the fruit and veg can be used by the food bank that works out of Lidgett. They’ve got fruit bushes already there, so we've just started pruning those back too. There’s strawberry plants, rhubarb plants and lavender.
“We had a great time chatting and laughing with the neighbours and getting to know folk. We’re so grateful to the people who have given up their time and made a positive impact on their community.
“At the moment The Salvation Army does not have a building in York so we are working in partnership with places like Lidgett and responding to community need where we can. It fits with our city-wide strategy, which is one church and many expressions across the city.”
Charlie Malarkey, who leads the Early Intervention and Prevention Team, which carries out early morning street walks across the city, hosts a drop-in and signposting service from Chocolate and Co in Lowther Street and runs boxing sessions for people struggling with homelessness and mental ill health, also took part in clearing out the site.
He added: “The methodist church do a lot of good work supporting the vulnerable across our city so I was really happy to put a shift in to help bring this space back to life.”
York Salvation Army is based at Burton Green Primary School.
