If you’ve been itching to exercise your green fingers but don’t have access to a garden, the national gardening organisations listed here are always looking for volunteers to help with pruning and planting. You’ll not only score brownie points for showing good community spirit, but you’ll also be giving your body an outdoors workout, too. So don’t be a weed and dig in.

FRIENDS OF PARKS

If you can’t pass by the flower beds in your local park without feeling the urge to pull up any weed in sight, this project is for you. Many parks around the country have a Friends of the Park group, whose volunteers tackle everything from planting flowers and digging new beds to dealing with park vandalism and fund-raising. Green Spaces, the parks and gardens charity, will help you to find an existing group or, if your park doesn’t have a group, to form a new one in your area.

Suitable for All ages.

Contact Green Space, 0118-946 9060 or visit www.green-space.org.uk

GARDEN ORGANIC

If you are something of an organic food snob, maybe it is time to find out what it takes to grow those flavoursome vegetables. Garden Organic, the national charity for organic gardening, is looking for volunteers who want to roll up their sleeves and help to harvest at its three sites in Warwickshire, Kent, and Essex. No previous expertise is required, just come ready to make a commitment the charity is looking for volunteers who can help on a regular basis.

Suitable for All ages are welcome.

Contact 024-7630 3517; www.gardenorganic.org.uk

ENGLISH HERITAGE

Want to take part in preserving some of the finest historic parks and gardens in England? English Heritage has gardening opportunities that range from tending town gardens and public parks to grand country estates. Most of the projects take place from now until September. These include working on historical sites such as Audley End House, in Essex, and Brodsworth Hall, in South Yorkshire. Volunteer positions are selective and previous experience is preferred.

Suitable for Adults with some gardening experience

Contact 0870 3331181; www.english-heritage.org.uk

DO-IT.ORG.UK

This website was launched in 2001 with the first national database of volunteering opportunities in the UK. Its user-friendly site allows you to find gardening opportunities at parks near you. Search for projects in London alone and you will find 354 results for activities such as helping to develop a site near Waterloo Millennium Green or tidying up a playground at a primary school.

Suitable for All ages.

Contact 020-7226 8008; www.do-it.org.uk

GREENFINGERS APPEAL

Brighten up a child’s day by planting a colourful garden at a children’s hospice. The Greenfingers Appeal looks after 39 children’s hospices in the UK, creating cheerful gardens to provide a space of peace and calm for the parents, siblings, friends and relations of the children in care. No previous experience is required.

Suitable for All ages.

Contact Call 01449 614614; www.green fingersappeal.co.uk

THE FEDERATION OF CITY FARMS AND COMMUNITY GARDENS

From a small wildlife garden to a fruit and vegetable plot, community gardens and city farms have a large body that represents them. The federation represents 59 city farms, 66 school farms, and nearly 1,000 community gardens in the UK. It offers a wide range of community gardening projects all year round.

Suitable for All ages

Contact: 0117-923 1800; www.farmgarden.org.uk

THRIVE

Do you have special needs? Gardening projects at the national charity Thrive may be just the thing for you. The green charity focuses on the therapeutic benefits of gardening and how it can help people with sensory or physical disabilities, mental health problems or learning disabilities. Volunteers take part in projects such as working on Battersea Park, in South London, and cheering up Trunkwell Garden, a Victorian walled garden near Reading. As a volunteer, you will get the chance to work with horticultural therapists.

Suitable for Elderly and disabled people

Contact Call 0118-988 5688; www.thrive.org.uk

GREEN GYM

If the thought of running on a treadmill to techno music wears you down, it may be time to join a Green Gym. Instead of lifting dumbbells and jogging on the spot indoors, you can burn calories by planting, weeding and working up a healthy sweat outdoors in a community garden. A trained leader will show you how to warm up your body, and to use gardening tools efficiently to make the best of the work. The sessions are free and no experience is necessary. Green Gym groups meet in their local areas once a week for sessions that last up to three hours.

Suitable for All ages

Contact To join call 01302-388 888; www2.btcv.org.uk/display/ greengym

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