The Gardeners' House project has reached a milestone moment in their journey to bring the building in Morrab Gardens back to life, as they advertise five roles to build their team before they open their doors in late Spring 2025.

The Penzance-based restoration project is now recruiting for the posts, all of which will start in April. The new team will play a vital role in shaping the direction of The Gardeners' House, offering a chance to be a part of the story, right from the beginning.

The Gardeners’ House team is looking for a Collections Manager, a Site Manager, a Community Engagement Lead, a Children and Youth Engagement Lead and a Business Development Officer.

The Gardeners’ House is dedicated to celebrating the unique stories of their community, fostering connections through the shared experience of the surroundings of West Penwith.

The restoration of the historic building in Morrab Gardens – which has been home to the head gardeners of Morran Gardens as well as a former stable block - will provide a welcoming space for wellbeing workshops, community-led green projects, and a sensory garden.

The plan is to build a place where people can come together to share and celebrate their stories and be inspired by those of others.

Miki Ashton, Project Director for The Gardeners’ House said: “We are so excited to be able to advertise these roles and finally start to build our team. We’re starting to think about launching The Gardeners’ House and we will be opening later in the spring this year. We are creating a space where we can come together to discover, record and nurture our natural environment, not just for our pleasure, but also to make a positive impact.”

She added: “We’re looking for brilliant people to come and be a part of our story – to help manage and grow our archive, to look after our wonderful building and to help us with communicating and working with the community around us in meaningful ways. We’d encourage everyone to take a look at the five roles we’re advertising and share them with their networks.”

The Gardeners’ House, a charity based in Penzance, received £2.2 million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, as well as a grant of £896,000 from the Penzance Town Deal fund to help realise their vision.

Louis Gardner, Portfolio Holder for Economy, Cornwall Council added: "The restoration of The Gardeners House is a stunning example of creating future opportunities from the past. I share the project’s excitement in getting to the milestone of preparing to open their doors and I encourage people to see for themselves what a beautiful setting and valued resource they could have a future with.”

The building will be open to all and aims to become a part of the fabric of Penzance, working with community groups and local businesses to share the space, celebrating the landscape of West Cornwall and the stories within it.

The project will also create a home for a unique archive of documents, books and illustrations. The ‘living archive’ collection will be made accessible to the public for the first time and highlights the history of Cornwall's natural heritage.

Donated by the Hypatia Trust, the ‘living archive’ showcases the achievements and stories from the last 200 years of the men and women connected to West Cornwall’s natural heritage. Its new home will mean that the important collection is safeguarded and preserved in Penzance so that the community, researchers and visitors can learn and be inspired by it.

The hope is that it will continue to grow and include items that reflect the thoughts, feelings and experiences of people in the community today, particularly in response to the natural world and the climate emergency.

The Gardeners’ House renovation will also include a community art project led by artists Jane Darke and Andrew Tebbs, working with the community to create designs inspired by illustrations and objects from the archive. Local craftspeople will then be commissioned to recreate these designs in stone, metal and wood that will feature in the Sensory Garden.

The Sensory Garden, made possible by generous funding from the Tanner Phoenix Trust, will be created between the Gardeners’ House and Pengarth Day Centre. It will give a tranquil safe space where people can reconnect with nature and hopes to enhance the lives of older people, particularly those living with dementia.

The project will work in partnership with local community groups and organisations, including Sustainable Penzance, Earth’s Green Guardians, Hypatia Trust and Pengarth Day Centre.

Full information on the jobs and how to apply can be found here:

The Gardeners’ House Penzance are recruiting as they plan Spring 2025 opening