It’s not every day you get told that you’re in the running to win £70,000 of funding.

But for Dave Poulton and Kez Hayes-Palmer, founders of Up The Garden Bath, this dream became a reality when the National Lottery got in touch earlier this year to let them know the news.

Now the project is calling upon local residents to help support their chances of securing the funding.

Winning would massively boost their positive impact on Cambridgeshire’s environment and local communities.

You can support Up The Garden Bath by voting for them online in this year’s The People’s Projects. Voting opens at 9am on Monday, May 15 at: www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk.

Peterborough-based Up The Garden Bath is a community interest company that works with local businesses to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

With a team of hard-working volunteers, they take unwanted materials - such as old bathtubs - and upcycle them into garden planters. These are then installed into schools, community centres and residential care homes to help inspire and educate people on recycling, gardening, food production and healthy living.

But why bathtubs? Well, these are very often fly-tipped because the cost of disposal can be costly. They are notoriously hard to recycle and often end up in landfills. Up The Garden Bath takes these unwanted items and gives them a new lease of life by transforming them into raised growing spaces that are easily accessible for children, the elderly, and the disabled.

Since launching in February 2020, Up The Garden Bath has installed more than 50 upcycled bathtub planters across Cambridgeshire and delivered fun, educational workshops to more than 10,000 people of all ages.

The project benefits not only those directly participating in the sessions, but also everyone who has access to the shared community spaces. By regenerating previously unkempt areas, these communal growing spaces aid social cohesion and encourage people to take pride in their local neighbourhoods.

“Gardening is great for our mental and physical wellbeing,” explains Dave.

“That’s why we’re on a mission to make gardening accessible to everyone, regardless of their physical abilities or horticultural knowledge. We want to help people learn new skills and form connections across different backgrounds and cultures.”

Up The Garden Bath also aims to provide training opportunities for a network of individuals who have found their route into mainstream employment blocked for various reasons.

This could be due to disability, addiction issues or mental health difficulties. The project empowers and educates people from some of the most deprived areas of the city to learn transferable life skills that will help them adapt to the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Participants can rebuild their lives in a positive way through this collaborative community project.

Dave continues: “The People’s Projects has given us this amazing opportunity to raise awareness for our work and, hopefully, secure this much-needed funding. We want to support even more people than before and continue to grow as an organisation. Up The Garden Bath is led by the community and for the community. We really hope local people will be able to support us by voting.”