AN exciting new community project will soon be taking place in Barry.

Gladstone Primary School and a group of volunteers are busy planning and fundraising for a permaculture garden that will be planted in the school grounds.

Permaculture is a relatively new way of gardening, with an emphasis on growing food crops in a sustainable way, whilst maintaining wildlife friendly habitats.

The garden will first appear in the Royal Horticultural Show in Cardiff in April 2009, spreading its message of sustainability and self-sufficiency as far as possible.

The plan is then to take the garden to Gladstone Primary School, using a team of volunteers to prepare the ground, plant and maintain.

Gladstone Primary will be inviting all the primary schools and volunteers from the community in Barry to take part in the creation of the garden and to participate in this opportunity for wider learning.

The children and the wider community will have the opportunity to learn about how we all need to look at the way we use our gardens in view of food shortages, fossil fuel running out and climate change.

It is widely thought that growing our own food has more impact on these issues than any other environmentally-aware activity.

Michele Fitzsimmons and Sara Bentley are the garden designers involved in the project, and both feel passionately about how we look to the future and involve our children and communities in ways to tackle the environmental problems that are beginning to affect us all.

The permaculture garden will be a working example for the children in Barry and the wider community of how we can not only help the environment but also improve our own health and well being.

The project is actively fundraising at the moment – and is also keen for potential volunteers to make contact.

If you feel that you can help, either financially or practically, please contact either Michelle at ms@michelefitz.freeserve.co.uk or Sara at sara.bentley@btinternet.com