COREY CLARK and Lee McGinlay are getting ready to put the first spades in the ground of what will grow to become the biggest community garden in Castlemilk.

The volunteers with Fair Deal's Help Yourself Grow Project will be helping to set up a new space to grow fruit and vegetables in the extensive green space surrounding the home of the Jeely Piece Club in Machrie Drive.

Lee, 29, from Parkhead, has already had experience growing courgettes, carrots and beetroot from seed, potting them on and planting them out at the project's Kennyhill Allotments in Riddrie. Now they are almost ready to harvest and he says he can't wait to get started at the new area to be developed in Castlemilk.

"What I like best about the gardening is getting out, meeting new people and working with them," he says.

"I have already come along to Castlemilk to help clear weeds."

As well as helping with work in the gardens at the Hub in Maryhill and South Brae in Jordanhill, 19-year-old Corie from Knightswood has been taking photographs and short films as a record of the ever-changing landscape.

"I wasn't sure if I would like it because I had never done gardening or any kind of group activity before," he says.

"It was a good group because they had fun with each other but also worked well together.

"I have learned a bit about gardening and how to work in a team. That's great, you feel more comfortable with people."

Work starts on creating the community garden is Castlemilk later in August and will take about three months, including planting an orchard, seating, allotments, raised beds and a glasshouse.

It is just one of the projects being set up by Fair Deal after it received Big Lottery funding of £680,000.

The Help Yourself Grow project is a new approach to support people with learning disabilities, and help them develop personally. The project involves gardening and cooking with more than 65 people already involved.

The co-production approach helps develop people's personal goals while enhancing their social interaction.

"Fair Deal was set up in 1985 by parents and carers of people with learning disabilities," explains chief executive Ann Marie Docherty.

"Changes to policy meant that we could start to look at different ways of supporting people. Over the last 25 years we have always tried to be creative, innovative and imaginative in the way we deliver support. The introduction of personalisation and self-directed support gave us an opportunity to think, what would people be looking for and how would we take that forward?"

At the moment the initiative works with more than 100 people every week across Glasgow and more recently started looking at volunteering as a way to encourage people with a learning disability to volunteer and bring more people into the organisation.

The seeds of Help Yourself Grow were sown and the aim to help people find college places and work experience.

"It was one of the partnership group members who has a learning disability who came up with the name Help Yourself Grow and it is all based around personal development, so it is encouraging people to develop skills and a range of opportunities for them to develop as individuals," says Ann Marie.

"Help Yourself Grow has been successful and we have a relationship with partners, including the Jeely Piece Club, which we are heavily involved and committed to.

"The whole purpose of what we're doing in Castlemilk is to promote integration of young people with a learning disability within the wider community."

Help Yourself Grow already has a community kitchen in Castlemilk's Birgidale complex and there will be space for children from the Jeely Piece Club to learn to cook as well as grow their own vegetables in the new gardens outside.

As well as forging friendships and bonds between the groups, the new community garden will give Help Yourself Grow's volunteers the opportunity to increase their self-esteem and build their confidence.

"Our focus is around what each person wants to do and what they are capable of doing," says Ann Marie.

"Over the years we have been working with some young folk who really want to set up their own enterprise and are focused on gardening and learning.

We have other people, depending on their experiences and life opportunities and level of disability, who are very good at tending to the plants and watering them. What we are trying to do is build on that and see if there is a skill there we can positively market to somebody else."

Helping to shape the garden will be Scott Green, 27, from Cardonald.

He first got involved as a volunteer at the Hidden Gardens in Pollokshields and was asked if he would be interested in joining Help Yourself Grow.

Now he has a paid position, helping to promote the initiative's gardens and find volunteers.

"I said I'd give it a try, but I wasn't a big fan of gardening," he remembers. "After a couple of weeks I really started to enjoy it. I find gardening keeps my mind very calm and I don't think about anything else. I'm in my own wee world, it's a good mindset."

Leading a team of other people with learning disabilities, Scott went on to win a gold medal at Garden Scotland for their design of a palette garden.

The experience sparked a passion and flair for garden design Scott didn't know he had.

"After that I thought I'd like to learn more about becoming a garden designer in years to come. That's what I enjoyed the most from that project," he adds.

"I want to volunteer to work at the garden in Castlemilk. I'd love to be involved in the garden design - It's like a baby, you have to decide what it will look like and see it grow."