Guerrilla gardening and grow your own for family food banks, are among more than 30 community projects to benefit from grant funding by the North of England Horticultural Society (NEHS) this year.
The charity, which organises the twice-yearly Harrogate Flower Shows, has announced grants of up to £1,000 for a wide range of gardening-based groups across the north of England.
Three main categories featured in the funding round – Improving our Landscape, Grow and Learn and Special Award 2014: Commemoration marking the start of World War 1 and the 70th anniversary of the D Day landings.
Among the North Yorkshire schools and community groups to receive grants were the Friends of Valley Gardens in Harrogate, who were awarded £1,000 to help with the restoration of a Victorian peat garden around the Grade II listed Old Magnesia Well Pump Room.
In the Grow & Learn category awards included a project by Nidderdale High School and Community College Gardening Club to create a community veg garden and heritage orchard, plus funding to help Tockwith C of E Primary School build an allotment for use by a new school gardening club.
Spofforth in Bloom have received a 2014 commemoration award to help volunteers restore and transform the village’s garden of remembrance, and Romanby Parish Council, near Northallerton, will use their award for a community project to improve the gardens surrounding a newly refurbished War Memorial Clock Tower.
The North of England Horticultural Society is a leading gardening charity which already supports more than 50 garden-related organisations and specialist societies. The NEHS Grants Scheme was launched in 2012 as an extension of the charity’s mission to promote horticulture across the North of England.
Nick Smith, Show Director, said: The NEHS has been promoting horticulture for more than 100 years and the aim of our grants scheme is to expand the range of projects and communities benefitting from the charity’s work.
We have been very impressed both by the variety and the quality of the applications put forward this year, and we are delighted to see the proceeds from Harrogate Flower Shows being reinvested in such worthwhile projects.
The spring and autumn flower shows, staged at the Great Yorkshire Showground, are Britain’s biggest and most prestigious independent gardening events, attracting nearly 100,000 visitors and over 1,000 exhibitors each year. The next show will be held on 12 – 14 September 2014.
NEHS grants have been awarded to 33 projects across Yorkshire, Durham, Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire, Northumberland and Teesside. For full details about the successful applications visit www.flowershow.org.uk
For more media information please contact Nick Smith on 01423 546162.
