Dobbies' Livingston store is inviting local schools, charities, and community groups to apply for its 2026 Community Gardens initiative. According to Dobbies, the program will support local communities by providing essential tools, plants, and expert knowledge from colleagues to help groups bring their green spaces to life. Dobbies' Livingston store is looking to hear from local groups hoping to start, restore, or upgrade their indoor or outdoor green spaces, with entrants required to be within 20 miles of the store.
Dobbies' Plant Buyer, Nigel Lawton, is encouraging groups across the country to apply. 'We encourage local communities and groups within 20 miles of their local Dobbies store to apply to help create their perfect shared garden spaces that will bring joy to the community all year long,' said Lawton. In 2025, each of Dobbies' 53 stores selected a winner from over 600 entries to receive support, supplies, and advice through the community initiative.
Every year we look forward to hearing from the variety of inspiring groups about what they are looking to their garden spaces, with our support.
Applications for the 2026 scheme are now open and will close at 5pm on March 31. Successful projects will be invited to their local store for a consultation before getting recommendations from Dobbies' colleagues about what products and tools will help bring the space to life. Craig Allardyce, secretary of Your North Muirton, described the impact of Dobbies' support in a previous project.
'Dobbies Community Gardens is a fantastic initiative to help bring local communities together and we would encourage groups looking for help with a garden project to apply,' said Allardyce. The specific criteria used to select the winning projects have not been disclosed, and the total budget or value of support provided per project remains unknown.
We encourage local communities and groups within 20 miles of their local Dobbies store to apply to help create their perfect shared garden spaces that will bring joy to the community all year long.