GREEN-FINGERED gardeners on a half-acre site a furlong or two from Pitchcroft racecourse are celebrating after digging up a £10,000 grant from the National Lottery Community Awards.
Volunteers at Worcester Community Garden are raising a trowel after the registered charity just outside the heart of the city scooped the five-figure sum.
The £10,000 cash injection will prove invaluable for the much-loved site as it will go a long way towards providing the pontoon and storage needed to protect much of the garden’s resources from the regular flooding experienced each winter given its close proximity to the River Severn.
A jubilant chair of trustees at the Community Garden Steve Dent revealed volunteers spent a full month every year clearing up after the worst of Mother Nature has passed through.
“In February, water levels reached a height of 1.5metres on the site, causing destruction and damage to many of our tools,” he said.
“Being able to keep our tools safely stored on a floating pontoon will make an enormous difference. We are extremely grateful to Keith Slater of Community Boost for providing his time, advice and expertise to help us secure this funding”.
The garden is part of Transition Worcester, which is committed to developing resilience and a more sustainable way of living within the community in the face of climate change and fossil fuel depletion.
For Keith Slater of Community Boost this award is yet another external grant the Boost has been able to bring into the city.
Speaking to the Observer Keith said he was particularly happy with this grant as he admitted he was ‘bowled over’ by the amazing work undertaken in the garden when he first visited.
“No doubt in my mind that this oasis of peace and tranquillity is a hidden jewel in the city and is a first-rate example of the work that committed and dedicated volunteers can produce”.
Both the gardeners and Community Boost were keen to praise Worcester City Council which has set aside a funding grant pot to support organisations delivering services on the front line of local communities.
It is this funding which helped the garden to utilise the services of Community Boost to draw down a £10k grant.
Next for the gardeners is to raise a further £5,000 needed for the pontoons, again working with Community Boost.
Should they be successful again, this will top £1.75million in grants generated for groups across Worcester by the Boost.
Visit https://worcestercommunitygarden.org.uk/ for more on Worcester Community Gardens.
