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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Severin Carrell Scotland editor

REVEALED: The community buyout projects leading scotland s self help revolution | Rare Historical Photos

Two women and three children in coats, hats and gloves in the community garden.
Benny with his brothers and mum in Granton community garden, where he hunts for insects, learns to prune and build fires, and toasts marshmallows. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Benny Corkill is four years old and loves his plastic binoculars. He uses them to hunt insects among the wood chips, vegetable beds and fruit trees crowding Granton community garden in north-west Edinburgh.

Under the shadow of nearby tenements, Benny is learning to prune, build fires and wrestle logs into forts, boosted by toasted marshmallows. “My boys love coming here,” said Reka, his mother. “They know they can ask questions; they can be silly here, as well. It’s a safe place for them and good for me too: here I can let them run loose.”

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