A COMMUNITY garden could be under threat after failing to secure enough funding for next year.

Staff at the 3Hills community garden in Priesthill received cash from Glasgow City Council, the NHS and Glasgow Housing Association over the last three years to pay for a dedicated on-site gardener.

But this year, founders have been unable to secure enough cash to pay for gardener Jane Burdass' salary and fear the whole project may be in jeopardy.

The facility on the site of Cleeves Primary School is used by dozens of nursery and primary children to grow plants and vegetables, helped by gardener Jane Burdass.

She also helps local residents, many of whom suffer from isolation or mental health difficulties, to grow their own crops and improve their gardening skills.

Despite GHA proving some funding for next year, chairman William Graham said they have not secured enough to guarantee Jane will be able to continue working at the site.

He said: "Last year, Glasgow City council, GHA and the NHS gave us funding but now we're looking for funding from April onwards. It's getting quite urgent.

"In total we need about £26,000 for the gardener's salary and if we can't get enough funding, it would have a big impact on the project.

"It would interfere with the relationship between the garden and the school. Jane has qualifications to work with the school, she has built up relationships with pupils and does a lot with them.

"In the long term it would really affect the project if we had to lose her.

"We have people here who have mental health issues and other health problems, and the garden really helps them.

"They are trying something new to get active and they do need help from the gardener to get started and show them what to do."

Janis Maguire, head of Burnbrae nursery, said all her pupils benefit greatly from the facility and would be devastated if they weren't able to use it.

She said: "The garden has a huge impact on kids behaviour and their learning.

"There is one child in particular who is quite reserved and shy, he doesn't really speak to adults easily but when he is out in the garden he is extremely vocal.

"He remembers the names of flowers and talks about them all the time, it's lovely.

"All the kids take pride in what they have grown, and Jane does fantastic work with the children.

"They get experiences we wouldn't be able to offer them because we don't have those expertise.

"Children are also learning about food and learning that not everything comes from the supermarket.

"They plant vegetables from seeds and harvest them, and they get to take things home that sometimes their parents may not be able to afford."

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “The council is one of a number of organisations that provided development funding for this community garden.

“It was always envisaged the local community would eventually be able to run the garden for the benefit of their community on a self-sustaining basis.

“Funding for a gardener was also drawn from a number of sources, with an aim of building community skills so the garden can be run locally and sustainably.

“Funding from the council was never provided in perpetuity.”