To Complete the Rainbow Garden, which was designed by our artists in residence Kathie Beckett. We were lucky to get funding for the building a pavilion that would overlook the garden while providing a social space for the community.

Foundation Scotland gave us a grant and the carpentry trainee from the Ridge built it: It has a Scandinavian design with a solid roof. It was hoped to have a green roof that would help to insulate the space at a later date

Salvaged bi-folding doors open the whole frontage up allowing for the people using the space to feel they are within the garden. In colder weather it can be used as a refuge from the weather while still overlooking the garden.

The Rainbow Garden is a colourful mixture of wild flowers which offer colour throughout the summer season. Some of the plants and the roots can also offer us dye colours which can inspire a number of workshops and help to teach people about the value of our native plants.

The Pavilion is now regularly used by The Ridge as a meeting space for the community. It can also be used as a creative workshop space or a retreat. The Rainbow Garden is created within the Backlands community garden, a space for trainees and volunteers to grow and tend the mixture of vegetable and flowers, which are sold at the local fruit and veg store. It is hoped that the ethos of the garden, as a refuge, a mindful and fertile green space in the heart of the town, will infuse the works, which evolve as a result of being within nature.