Buy your Halloween pumpkins and support a local charity at the same time!

With Halloween just over a week away, you may be looking for a pumpkin or two to carve into spooooky lanterns.

On October 21st the team behind the Erlas Victorian Garden Project will be hosting an open day at the Bryn Estyn site for members of the public to buy pumpkins that have been grown in the garden. Money raised from the event will be used to continue supporting the scheme itself.

The Erlas Victorian Walled Garden Project started in the early noughties by a group who wanted to promote the well-being, skills and employability of those whose disabilities prevented them accessing every day opportunities.

They received funding from the European Social Fund which helped Wrexham Work Opportunities, the Welsh College of Horticulture, Mencap Cymru and the Wrexham Disability Forum to create “The Erlas Garden Project.”

In September 2006 a major restoration program which saw derelict and forgotten area transformed was completed thanks to a further funding boost.

Since then volunteers and beneficiaries have cleared the 1.3 hectares of land to create a wildlife area complete with a bog garden, they have made pathways through the wooded area and made bird and bat boxes and hides. There is also a nature trail, orchard, local provenance seed area and a pond.

The Project in recent years has also received funding from the Armed forces covenant and has supported several veterans to gain invaluable experience and supporting their transition back into the civilian community.