Land In Our Hands

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Land in Our Hands


In December 2025, Polmont Community Hub and its land successfully completed the community asset transfer process. This milestone marks a significant achievement, as community ownership of the land is phenomenal. The purchase of the hub and its land was funded by the Scottish Land Fund, and our community is now ready to transform it. We formed a group called Land in Our Hands, which consists of our community's gardenisers and growers, to connect our community with our land as a means to achieve food security, climate justice, and land justice.


All our groups at the hub believe that a healthy environment and a stroll among nature should be accessible to everyone. The council designed our field with large stretches of grass, manicured lawns, and playing fields. However, these areas are now considered biodiversity deserts due to their uniform monoculture nature, which supports little species diversity and requires extensive maintenance with chemicals and water.


Our Land in Our Hands group is dedicated to healing our relationship with nature and the land. We advocate for sustainable, reciprocal, and caring practices. We strive for collective land stewardship to help our communities



Since its founding in 2025, Land in Our Hands has formed a partnership with Polmont Community Hub and has set out to collaborate with other groups that care about the environment and the community. This collective continues to grow. Last year, we received the Level Four Achievement Award from Keep Scotland Beautiful for their its your neighborhood campaign, we are up for judging again this year. (Lets see if we can make it to the top-level 5 award )

  • They aim to host wellbeing and nature immersion events, talks on permaculture, biodiversity loss and the changing of the seasons, where gardenizers can connect.

  • They aim to obtain educational books for oor wee library, and one day publish books in Scots and Gaelic, researching the harmful effects upon food growing that marketing culturcide has damaged the people of Scotland's relationship with nature, which has had a horrendous impact to health in our society.

  • They spearheaded the community of Polmont by stewarding No Mow May and the end of biocide usage at Polmont Community Hub (PCH)  then started growing culturally appropriate foods and holding events for the collective’s communities to learn about food and connect with each other, the Hub's halls rooms and  green spaces

  • Beginning with the successful just transition of the traditional Burns supper, in January 2025 where shop local and healthier alternative Scottish foods were served out for free, to promote the circular economy and agriculture over agribusiness

  • Then close ties with other community events like Polmont community councils sunflower growing competition, Polmont horticultural societies annual show and Forth Environmental links & the BFG`s Apple day,

  • They have begun work on our Herb garden, composting and mushroom growing along with food and water wastage to fertilisers plan our wormery has begun and a community sun festival is in the planning stages  




LIOH Souplin and PCH want to scale up their events programme to continue to expand its network, with events like the return to Scottish Samhain instead of a consumerist Halloween event, we look to host an alternative high street event, annual Apple day Events, maintain a seed library and organise regular community cinema events. Watch this amazing film of conservationists taking land ownership in chilli 

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https://youtu.be/ii0vso3gmX4?si=j81lhyaOCGN2ndGX



This project was submitted to Polmontsoup night, for funding to help LIOH, finance the transition


Sanctuary Project Summary: To design and build an interconnected, low-maintenance wildlife sanctuary. This area will serve as a refuge for local insects, amphibians, birds, and mammals, while providing an interactive, multi-sensory educational space for the community.


The Living Habitats (The Ecotones)

- Stumpery (The Shelter Zone)

- Rockery (The Basking Zone)

- Pollinator Garden & Flower Meadow Buffer

- Native Shrub Boundary


Animal Architecture & Pathways

- Hedgehog Highway

- Bug Mansion

- Avian Additions

- Butterfly "Puddling" Station


Interactive & Educational Features

- Brass Rubbing Posts

- Bird Spotters Board and Currently in Flower board

- Sensory Tags & QR Codes


Integrated Community Seating

- Log Circle

- Rockery Perches


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