25 Feb 2026, 13:16SM CommunicationsPaisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, United Kingdom
Member-Led Community Garden Promotes Health and Reduces Isolation in Paisley
Responding to loneliness and limited access to green space, a volunteer-led garden is providing fresh food, skills and connection.
In the heart of Paisley, the West End Growing Grounds Association is more than just a community garden – it’s a lifeline for local residents. With 56 raised beds and two polytunnels, the garden provides a space where people of diverse ages and backgrounds can grow fresh food, learn new skills, and connect with others in the community.
At the heart of the initiative is John Wilby, a retired Chief Executive of the Scottish and London Ambulance Services and member of Paisley Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 2009, as chair of the local community council, Wilby helped secure a grant from Keep Scotland Beautiful, responding to their appeal to enhance the local environment by encouraging communities to grow their own food. “Their grant enabled us to establish a raised-bed allotment on leased council land,” Wilby explains. When the original site was later needed for housing, the garden moved to a new location and became a registered charity – just five minutes from the church.
Wilby was drawn to community gardening by the needs of the local population. “The Community Council serves 10,500 people in a largely deprived area,” he says. “Many residents live alone in tenements or flats with no garden. It was immediately clear the garden could make a real difference – providing healthy fruit and vegetables while also reducing loneliness and social isolation.”
As secretary and volunteer manager of what is known as the Sanctuary Garden, Wilby coordinates day-to-day operations and supports a diverse group of members – from adult learning programmes and ethnic community groups to college students. The garden now has a waiting list, reflecting what he describes as a growing demand for “healthy and fruitful activity.”
Wilby’s commitment to community service stretches back decades. Born in early 1939 on England’s south coast, he recalls childhood shaped by wartime hardship – and by solidarity. “I have clear childhood memories of watching aero dogfights outside my bedroom window and food rationing,” he reflected in an earlier interview with Hope Channel. “But…one felt that there was a community spirit in the face of adversity.”
That early experience of resilience and togetherness, combined with his upbringing in an Adventist family, shaped a lifetime of service. Wilby went on to spend 32 years in the ambulance service. He also chaired the European Standards Committee for Emergency Medical Services and spent five years in Cape Town, South Africa, helping to develop emergency medical services there.
Now in retirement, Wilby’s focus is local. The garden’s success, however, does not come without challenges. Funding remains an ongoing concern, particularly in the current economic climate. While the annual bed fee has been held at £30 for eight years, capital projects depend heavily on grants and creative income sources.
Recruiting volunteers is the greatest challenge. “Our continued existence depends on a very few willing retired members,” Wilby says, noting that most of the garden’s members are in full-time work.
Despite these challenges, the garden’s impact continues to grow. Situated on Paisley’s ring road, it attracts regular attention from passers-by and a steady stream of membership enquiries. In a post-pandemic context, the garden has become an important space for rebuilding connections, supporting wellbeing, and meeting individual aspirations. Members receive guidance if they are new to gardening, and many discover not only the satisfaction of growing their own produce but also the health benefits of a plant-based diet.
For Wilby, the most rewarding part of the work is simple. “Apart from the personal healthy physical activity, it is witnessing the gratifying process of ‘plot to pot’ in growing and eating your own healthy food,” he says.
His motivation reflects a deeply held faith. Quoting a reflection he once encountered in Adventist Today, Wilby points to the second half of 1 John 4:12 as a guiding principle – that godliness is about love lived out “in real time and in the actual world.” For him, community gardening is a practical expression of that shift from the vertical to the horizontal – from belief to action. “And that is how I am choosing to expend my remaining energies,” he concludes.
Those interested in supporting the West End Growing Grounds Association can visit wegga.org.uk or email weggapaisley@gmail.com. Wilby also encourages anyone, wherever they live, to explore local allotments – a simple way to be active, grow healthy food, and connect with people of similar mind.
Responding to loneliness and limited access to green space, a volunteer-led garden is providing fresh food, skills and connection.
In the heart of Paisley, the West End Growing Grounds Association is more than just a community garden – it’s a lifeline for local residents. With 56 raised beds and two polytunnels, the garden provides a space where people of diverse ages and backgrounds can grow fresh food, learn new skills, and connect with others in the community.
At the heart of the initiative is John Wilby, a retired Chief Executive of the Scottish and London Ambulance Services and member of Paisley Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 2009, as chair of the local community council, Wilby helped secure a grant from Keep Scotland Beautiful, responding to their appeal to enhance the local environment by encouraging communities to grow their own food. “Their grant enabled us to establish a raised-bed allotment on leased council land,” Wilby explains. When the original site was later needed for housing, the garden moved to a new location and became a registered charity – just five minutes from the church.
Wilby was drawn to community gardening by the needs of the local population. “The Community Council serves 10,500 people in a largely deprived area,” he says. “Many residents live alone in tenements or flats with no garden. It was immediately clear the garden could make a real difference – providing healthy fruit and vegetables while also reducing loneliness and social isolation.”
As secretary and volunteer manager of what is known as the Sanctuary Garden, Wilby coordinates day-to-day operations and supports a diverse group of members – from adult learning programmes and ethnic community groups to college students. The garden now has a waiting list, reflecting what he describes as a growing demand for “healthy and fruitful activity.”
Wilby’s commitment to community service stretches back decades. Born in early 1939 on England’s south coast, he recalls childhood shaped by wartime hardship – and by solidarity. “I have clear childhood memories of watching aero dogfights outside my bedroom window and food rationing,” he reflected in an earlier interview with Hope Channel. “But…one felt that there was a community spirit in the face of adversity.”
That early experience of resilience and togetherness, combined with his upbringing in an Adventist family, shaped a lifetime of service. Wilby went on to spend 32 years in the ambulance service. He also chaired the European Standards Committee for Emergency Medical Services and spent five years in Cape Town, South Africa, helping to develop emergency medical services there.
Now in retirement, Wilby’s focus is local. The garden’s success, however, does not come without challenges. Funding remains an ongoing concern, particularly in the current economic climate. While the annual bed fee has been held at £30 for eight years, capital projects depend heavily on grants and creative income sources.
Recruiting volunteers is the greatest challenge. “Our continued existence depends on a very few willing retired members,” Wilby says, noting that most of the garden’s members are in full-time work.
Despite these challenges, the garden’s impact continues to grow. Situated on Paisley’s ring road, it attracts regular attention from passers-by and a steady stream of membership enquiries. In a post-pandemic context, the garden has become an important space for rebuilding connections, supporting wellbeing, and meeting individual aspirations. Members receive guidance if they are new to gardening, and many discover not only the satisfaction of growing their own produce but also the health benefits of a plant-based diet.
For Wilby, the most rewarding part of the work is simple. “Apart from the personal healthy physical activity, it is witnessing the gratifying process of ‘plot to pot’ in growing and eating your own healthy food,” he says.
His motivation reflects a deeply held faith. Quoting a reflection he once encountered in Adventist Today, Wilby points to the second half of 1 John 4:12 as a guiding principle – that godliness is about love lived out “in real time and in the actual world.” For him, community gardening is a practical expression of that shift from the vertical to the horizontal – from belief to action. “And that is how I am choosing to expend my remaining energies,” he concludes.
Those interested in supporting the West End Growing Grounds Association can visit wegga.org.uk or email weggapaisley@gmail.com. Wilby also encourages anyone, wherever they live, to explore local allotments – a simple way to be active, grow healthy food, and connect with people of similar mind.
