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ActivLives is a local charity, which relies on grants, trusts, donations, fundraising activities, sponsorship & commissions to enable us to provide & develop our services across Ipswich & Suffolk.
OUR NEW STOCK IS AVAILABLE TO ORDER!
Please browse our online catalogue and get your order in early.
We can deliver direct to your door from May – so you can continue enjoy your garden safely during these challenging times.
People’s Community Garden
An outdoor community resource, where people of all ages, and from all walks of life, get together to develop and maintain an inspiring green space.
Chantry Walled Garden
A beautiful heritage walled garden and plant nursery, open to the public. Here, we offer volunteering and work experience opportunities, and have a garden especially designed for people with disabilities to carry on gardening!
Grow Your Community: Sudbury
Join us in Belle Vue Park and other green spaces around town to make
your community bloom! Make new friends, learn skills, get active, feel fitter and improve your environment in the process.
Current Services & Projects
Read about our current ActivGardens projects to see how you can get involved
ActivHives Apiary and Bee Garden
Get closer to nature in our wildlife areas and take part in beekeeping.
ActivSheds
A place to get creative, learn skills and work shoulder to shoulder on woodworking projects.
CRESS Pavilion
A community hub and information learning centre, where we hold our community market and pop-up cafe.
Heritage Garden
Lap up the atmosphere within the walls of our historical site – full of interesting features and beautiful plants.
Plant Nursery
A great place to learn industry skills, growing and tending plants, as well as buying our beautiful plants.
Bridging The Gap
Bridging The Gap is a project that brings the garden to care homes and hospital wards.
Carry On Gardening!
A project to enable older people to enjoy gardening – at our friendly, welcoming sites or in community and care settings.
Grow to Learn
Providing learning placements for older adults, family carers, and young people in transition with social care needs.
Grow Your Future
An outdoor learning programme for young people aged 16-24 who are not in Education, Employment or Training
Women's Skills Exchange
Bringing women together to learn and share skills.
Roots to Work
Roots to Work is a project that aims to help people build practical skills and knowledge about gardening, growing and nature conservation.
Placements
Placements for young people and adults – learn skills, improve your health & wellbeing, socialise as part of a friendly team.
We offer a range of activities in the relaxed, welcoming environment of the People’s Community Garden, ActivSheds and Chantry Walled Garden, at a pace to suit the individual.
Being part of ActivGardens will enable you to learn practical skills, gain confidence, and develop friendships.
Programmes for schools
Exciting outdoor learning opportunities & skills development for young people.
We work with schools, colleges and other organisations to help develop young people – giving them a chance to learn hands-on, build confidence and self-esteem, and feel positive about their future.
Becoming a Volunteer
If you enjoy working with others in the great outdoors, then come and work at ActivGardens.
We have a variety of roles at our gardens and outreach sites, helping keep up with the work, contributing your skills, and supporting other people.
A Look Inside ActivGardens
How to videos
Our helpful how to videos can show you how to make a lovely table decoration, how to grow sweet peas and also a bulb lasagne!
Where You Can Find Us
The Peoples Community Garden
The People’s Community Garden is an outdoor community resource on a public allotment site, where people of all ages and abilities get together to learn, develop and maintain an inspiring green space including growing vegetables, sowing seeds, maintaining wildlife areas, and beekeeping.
Open Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays
9am – 3.30pm
Chantry Walled Garden
Chantry Walled Garden is a heritage walled garden in a public park, with flower borders and vegetable-growing areas, as well as extensive glasshouses as part of our plant nursery.
Open Tuesdays & Thursdays
9am – 3.30pm
Plant Sales every Tuesday & Thursday.
Belle Vue Park
Grow Your Community – Sudbury provides opportunities for local people to get involved in community growing in and around Sudbury.
At Belle Vue Park every Thursday
10am – 12.30pm
Also available in other green spaces around Sudbury via booking.
CRESS Pavilion
Home to the CRESS Community Market & Cafe & ActivSheds.
The CRESS Pavilion is available to hire – contact us on 01473 345350 for more information.
CRESS Community Market – see events for next market
ActivSheds – open Fridays at 10am
Meet the Staff
Susannah Robirosa
ActivGardens Development Manager
Ian Hirst
ActivGardens Operations Officer
ActivGardens is supported by Suffolk Community Foundation 
News from ActivGardens
Place your bedding plants order with our charity nursery!
Why not pop on down to our Chantry Park Walled Garden Nursery to browse our fabulous range of plants and get your garden looking amazing this Summer! You can also order your plants online so why not take the time to browse our online catalogue for our bigger and...
Invertebrates at Belle Vue Park
At Belle Vue park we grow lots of different types of plants and shrubs and this creates a range of different habitats for many invertebrates. Our tall grasses have dense tussocky bases where beetles and spiders can survive over winter. We grow lots of flowers with...
Job Vacancy: ActivSheds Session Leader – Freelance
A forctivLives is seeking a Session Leader for its thriving ActivSheds project in Ipswich. This position is suitable for someone with a passion for carpentry and construction, who enjoys working with people and passing on their skills. You will gain experience of...
Upcoming ActivGardens Events
Click on an event below to find out more details
Chantry Walled Garden is a heritage walled garden in a public park, with flower borders and vegetable-growing areas, as well as extensive glasshouses as part of our plant nursery. Our base is cosy Nursery Cottage, where there is an accessible courtyard garden with raised beds for wheelchair users. The adjacent workshop has facilities for woodwork and basic construction. In this garden you can learn skills relevant to the horticultural industry as well as enjoy maintaining a garden full of history.
Every Tuesday and Thursday we hold a plant sale, where we sell plants we’ve grown in the garden to help fund the project.
Chantry Walled Garden is a heritage walled garden in a public park, with flower borders and vegetable-growing areas, as well as extensive glasshouses as part of our plant nursery. Our base is cosy Nursery Cottage, where there is an accessible courtyard garden with raised beds for wheelchair users. The adjacent workshop has facilities for woodwork and basic construction. In this garden you can learn skills relevant to the horticultural industry as well as enjoy maintaining a garden full of history.
Every Tuesday and Thursday we hold a plant sale, where we sell plants we’ve grown in the garden to help fund the project.
Chantry Walled Garden is a heritage walled garden in a public park, with flower borders and vegetable-growing areas, as well as extensive glasshouses as part of our plant nursery. Our base is cosy Nursery Cottage, where there is an accessible courtyard garden with raised beds for wheelchair users. The adjacent workshop has facilities for woodwork and basic construction. In this garden you can learn skills relevant to the horticultural industry as well as enjoy maintaining a garden full of history.
Every Tuesday and Thursday we hold a plant sale, where we sell plants we’ve grown in the garden to help fund the project.
Chantry Walled Garden is a heritage walled garden in a public park, with flower borders and vegetable-growing areas, as well as extensive glasshouses as part of our plant nursery. Our base is cosy Nursery Cottage, where there is an accessible courtyard garden with raised beds for wheelchair users. The adjacent workshop has facilities for woodwork and basic construction. In this garden you can learn skills relevant to the horticultural industry as well as enjoy maintaining a garden full of history.
Every Tuesday and Thursday we hold a plant sale, where we sell plants we’ve grown in the garden to help fund the project.
Chantry Walled Garden is a heritage walled garden in a public park, with flower borders and vegetable-growing areas, as well as extensive glasshouses as part of our plant nursery. Our base is cosy Nursery Cottage, where there is an accessible courtyard garden with raised beds for wheelchair users. The adjacent workshop has facilities for woodwork and basic construction. In this garden you can learn skills relevant to the horticultural industry as well as enjoy maintaining a garden full of history.
Every Tuesday and Thursday we hold a plant sale, where we sell plants we’ve grown in the garden to help fund the project.
Chantry Walled Garden is a heritage walled garden in a public park, with flower borders and vegetable-growing areas, as well as extensive glasshouses as part of our plant nursery. Our base is cosy Nursery Cottage, where there is an accessible courtyard garden with raised beds for wheelchair users. The adjacent workshop has facilities for woodwork and basic construction. In this garden you can learn skills relevant to the horticultural industry as well as enjoy maintaining a garden full of history.
Every Tuesday and Thursday we hold a plant sale, where we sell plants we’ve grown in the garden to help fund the project.
Chantry Walled Garden is a heritage walled garden in a public park, with flower borders and vegetable-growing areas, as well as extensive glasshouses as part of our plant nursery. Our base is cosy Nursery Cottage, where there is an accessible courtyard garden with raised beds for wheelchair users. The adjacent workshop has facilities for woodwork and basic construction. In this garden you can learn skills relevant to the horticultural industry as well as enjoy maintaining a garden full of history.
Every Tuesday and Thursday we hold a plant sale, where we sell plants we’ve grown in the garden to help fund the project.
Chantry Walled Garden is a heritage walled garden in a public park, with flower borders and vegetable-growing areas, as well as extensive glasshouses as part of our plant nursery. Our base is cosy Nursery Cottage, where there is an accessible courtyard garden with raised beds for wheelchair users. The adjacent workshop has facilities for woodwork and basic construction. In this garden you can learn skills relevant to the horticultural industry as well as enjoy maintaining a garden full of history.
Every Tuesday and Thursday we hold a plant sale, where we sell plants we’ve grown in the garden to help fund the project.
Chantry Walled Garden is a heritage walled garden in a public park, with flower borders and vegetable-growing areas, as well as extensive glasshouses as part of our plant nursery. Our base is cosy Nursery Cottage, where there is an accessible courtyard garden with raised beds for wheelchair users. The adjacent workshop has facilities for woodwork and basic construction. In this garden you can learn skills relevant to the horticultural industry as well as enjoy maintaining a garden full of history.
Every Tuesday and Thursday we hold a plant sale, where we sell plants we’ve grown in the garden to help fund the project.