VOLUNTEERS at Colchester’s struggling Big Garden fear ten years of hard work could be lost if they are unsuccessful securing funding.

The community vegetable garden and orchard at Highwoods Country Park is temporarily being funded by Colchester Council.

The council stepped in when the project hit a setback last year.

It recently granted £12,000 of stop-gap funding from its Community Enabling Fund to last until September 2017 after North Essex Public Health withdrew its six-year support.

The money would cover six months of salaries for two staff who maintain the gardens alongside the team of 35 volunteers.

Work with some 50 health service users in 2015, at an annual cost of £22,500, also came to an end.

But with the council unable to provide long-term funding, the garden’s future is reliant on funding from partners and health agencies, whose clients benefit from the resource.

Annie Feltham (Lib Dem), councillor responsible for business, leisure and opportunities at Colchester Council, said she hoped a solution could be found.

She said: “Every effort is being made to secure additional funding streams from next April to enable our work with health service users to continue.

“What I’m glad we’re able to do this year is to provide some interim funding to give the Big Garden more time to gain other funding and we’ll support the team to put applications together.”

Since Public Health funding began the Big Garden has provided more than 200 placements to patients using the garden for therapy, some of whom had mental illnesses.

Other volunteers, not referred by a health organisation, say the garden gives them a sense of community and purpose as well as friendship.

Paul Horwood, 67, who is now retired, began volunteering nearly six years ago after he was made redundant.

As treasurer he visits the garden each week and says the team has big ideas for the future such as a Farm to Fork-type scheme and selling its organic produce.

He said: “You name it, we grow it but at the moment it’s just the volunteers who take it home.

“We could even have a container down there with a kitchen in it so people can cook what they’ve sown and harvested.”

Mr Horwood added: “To lose something like this would be very sad and there’s no way us volunteers can take it on by ourselves without funding for staff and general materials, and equipment.

“It’s such a lovely place to be and we’re like a family here.”

Colchester Council would like to encourage organisations which use the community garden and are interested in being a stakeholder to come forward.

Anyone who is interested in keeping the Big Garden should make contact by emailing parks@colchester.gov.uk.