Community grant helps Letchworth allotment project grow

PR Date: Friday, 19 June 2020 - 10:30am

A social and therapeutic horticultural project in North Herts is set to become more accessible to people with disabilities thanks to a £2,500* community grant from North Hertfordshire District Council’s (NHDC) Letchworth Committee.

Green Care Norton CIC’s grant funding will help to install ‘safe walkways’ and raised beds at their Norton allotments site in Letchworth, making it easier for those with restricted mobility to get involved in allotment gardening.

First launched in July 2019, Green Care Norton CIC aims to use allotment gardening to bring about positive change in people’s lives by building on new and existing skills Individuals who are experiencing social exclusion through either loneliness, unemployment, learning difficulties, mental illness or who are recovering from ill health have all benefited from attending sessions.

Participants grow fruit, vegetables and flowers and receive advice and support about cooking the freshly grown produce. Surplus food and flowers are donated to food bank outlets or those in need in Letchworth and North Herts.

This is the second grant received by Green Care Norton CIC, who received a grant earlier this year to buy and install a polytunnel and learning shed for their work. Now, with the easing of lockdown measures and social distancing rules in place, the project is welcoming back gardeners.

Cllr Gary Grindal, Chair of NHDC’s Letchworth Committee said: “We are really pleased to provide additional support to this hugely positive project, which is making a real difference to the lives of many residents in North Herts. Through a shared love of gardening it brings local people together and it forges a real sense of community. We continue to wish them well with their future work.”

Ray Wilson, Director of Green Care Norton CIC said: “We are extremely grateful for the continuing support and overwhelming generosity of North Herts District Council in providing funding for Green Care at Norton. The present lockdown has made new developments at the project a challenge but with further NHDC backing we are now able to look forward to the future and create an inclusive gardening project for some of our most socially excluded residents.”

If you represent an independent and not-for-profit organisation working for the benefit of local communities in North Hertfordshire and you think your organisation could benefit from a community grant, go to our community grants webpages for more information. 

*subject to completion of necessary formalities