Our Community Gardens
GAP’s Green Living & Sustainability Community Gardens (GLAS) bring people of all ages and abilities together. The gardens are a great place for those who want to help produce organic food, and for everyone who simply wants to enjoy the outdoors.
- The GLAS garden in Ballymun has been serving the wider community since 2011. Not only do we provide this space for the local community to access, we use it actively as a space of learning and social inclusion. It is used on a weekly basis by a diverse range of groups of all ages and abilities including St. Michael’s House, Saol Clubhouse, the Central Remedial Clinic, Ballark Youth Training and Young Ballymun. GLAS is also a Discover Primary Science Centre.
- The GLAS @ TU Dublin garden in Blanchardstown was opened in 2023, and is based on the same principles as our community garden in Ballymun, welcoming local schools, community groups and individuals.
Our community gardens are unique: They are havens for people and plants alike.
- Our GLAS community gardens are centres of social inclusion – bringing people of all ages and abilities together, providing a sense of belonging and of wellbeing in the community.
- And our GLAS gardens are centres of environmental education – offering people a chance to learn about organic horticulture and gardening for biodiversity.
In both community gardens we run workshops on issues such as ‘the Power of Growing Your Own’, Organic Composting, ‘Know your Soil’, Water Management, Water Harvesting and Waste Management. We also run youth gardening workshops and we support community groups that want to start their own organic community garden.
In addition, we have partnered with groups such as Young Ballymun, through our Nature Explorer programme, to provide access to the community garden as a space of learning and exploration for disadvantaged families, children and parents in emergency accommodation or direct provision centres in Ballymun.
The garden in Ballymun includes a polytunnel, fairy garden, a large number of micro habitats, including a pond, composting systems, a grow dome and a rainwater harvesting system made from recycled plastic bottles. We don’t use any pesticides on our crops, to ensure that our produce is chemical free and organic.
Volunteer with us
We welcome volunteers to the garden. Volunteering in our community garden gives you the opportunity to learn new skills in organic gardening, or simply to help out with the many jobs that are needed to maintain the garden, so that we can continue to support disadvantaged communities that use the garden on a weekly basis.
If you are interested in volunteering with us, simply drop down and talk with our community gardeners, Sharon and Lee. Or else contact us by phone or email. We greatly value groups from businesses who are looking to engage with community groups to support their own Corporate Social Responsibility plans.
GLAS Ballymun opening hours:
Tuesday: 11 am – 1 pm
Wednesday: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Thursday: 11 am – 1 pm
(Click here to see the garden location using Google Maps)
GLAS @ TU Dublin opening hours:
Monday: 11 am – 1 pm
Thursday: 11 am – 1 pm
Friday: 11 am – 1 pm
(Click here to see the garden location using Google Maps)
We need your help!
You can support this vital support for disadvantage people in our community by making a financial donation. Click here to donate on our website, or find us on sites such as Benevity, Paypal or Amplify.
We would also love it if you could host a Facebook Fundraiser for us.
Our work is made possible through co-funding from Dublin City Council, the Ballymun Social Regeneration Fund and Fingal County Council.