A beautiful piece of fallen green oak is set to become a sculpture at a Dursley allotment - and gardeners themselves will be the ones wielding chisels.

Sculptor Natasha Houseago will not only carve the oak, which will sit at the entrance of Vale Community Hospital’s allotments, but run workshops so allotment holders can also get stuck in.

Natasha will teach them how to create carvings of vegetables and seeds to enhance the carved oak, which was taken from Dowdeswell Forestry in March and situated at the entrance to the allotments by Greenfields Garden Services.

The allotments, which were dug on NHS-owned land, are the brainchild of Dr Simon Opher, a GP at Dursley’s May Lane surgery, who believes that allotments offer psychological and medical benefits to patients.

Contact valehospitalallotments@downtoearthstroud.co.uk if you would like to get involved.