A COMMUNITY project found between Shillingstone and Blandford Forum received a boost in their plans to make their space more accessible for its increasing number of visitors.

The Big Yellow Bus Garden Project – a community, health and well-being space – has ambitious plans to extend its car park and create a new two metre wide path to enable more visitors and wheelchair users to access the site.

As part of this, founder Paul Williams announced on social media that he and two volunteers will cycle more than 1,000 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats to raise the £10,000 required to carry out the work.

This call for support caught the eye of Bartlett Contractors, found in Hinton St Mary, who got in touch with Paul to say they would be happy to offer a helping hand – free of charge.

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The company quickly got to work and helped extend the car park as well as getting a head start on the path, meaning more people can now enjoy the space.

Paul has thanked Bartlett’s for going above and beyond with their support.

“It was absolutely fabulous of them to step in – it’s made a massive difference already,” he said.

Two thirds of the path are now completed and Paul says it has already encouraged more groups to come to the site.

He said the new path and car park are needed due to how popular the site has become since it first launched in 2019.

“When I first moved onto the site five years ago, I created a small car park thinking that only half a dozen people would turn up – but we’ve been so oversubscribed and used that we’ve had to turn people away sadly simply due to a lack of parking,” he said.

“We always had the intention to increase the car park so more and more people could visit us.

“We often have schools pop down, and logistically with them taking up the car park coming with three or four mini-buses, it made things difficult for others to visit at the same time, and we want to make this a space for everyone.

“We’re a community space, so I obviously welcome people using our facilities, and the car park extension will allow this to happen.”

The Big Yellow Bus Gardening Project covers four acres of 100% pesticide-free land split into three distinct areas: the formal landscape garden with a 14-metre wildlife pond, sunken bird hide and a firepit; a growing space that produces fruit and vegetables for local food banks and the community, as well as a large cut-flower area; and a one-acre wildflower orchard that’s enjoyed by visitors as well as the resident bees.

Paul added: “We get people phoning up from Salisbury who want to come down for a walk, and we have 36 mountain bikes on site that we loan to people free of charge.

“Increasing the size of the car park means people can come on, park their car, and go on a decent cycle ride without worrying about encroaching on our ability to accommodate other people.”

He says the path itself is “desperately needed”.

“We had a small 0.5m wide rough path that took you through that has become overgrown in the past few years,” he said.

“This can be a real problem for those that are unsteady on their feet or wheelchair users and people with buggies.”

Paul says the end goal is to create a two-metre smooth path from the car park through the growing garden and the landscape garden so that everyone can enjoy the space to its fullest.

He said that while he is looking forward to the John O Groats challenge, it’s also a little daunting.

“The training started with plenty of enthusiasm, but that’s been tapered slightly thanks to the cold weather we’ve been experiencing,” he said.

“The challenge will hopefully mean we will have enough to finish the project and make the area more accessible to everyone.”

For more information about the Big Yellow Bus Garden Project, visit their website by clicking here.