Ballymoney group goES wild over lottery green grants

AN environmental project bringing older and young people in the rural village of Cloughmills together is sharing in a grants windfall from the Big Lottery Fund.

Cloughmills Community Action Team has been awarded a grant of 7,650 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Community Wildlife programme which aims to bring communities together to improve or protect the natural environment by raising awareness of threatened wildlife or places.

The group, based in the rural village of Cloughmills near Ballymoney, will use the grant to run a range of environmental projects giving young and older people the chance to work together to improve the environment and break down the barriers that exist between them.

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Chairperson Patrick Frew explained that the group’s ‘Muddy Boots Club’ will improve an area of woodland waste ground, continue to develop the village’s Incredible Edibles garden, and create a vibrant garden in an area next to a historical old well that is now currently used as a dumping site.

“There have been issues in the past in the village with anti-social behaviour among young people and we are now working with them to get them more involved in community life,” said Patrick. “And there are older people who simply don’t understand or trust young people – so there is a generational gap in the village that we want to change.

“We are already running Incredible Edible Cloughmills at a garden site beside the Corner House Bar in the village. We turned an area of wasteland into a garden area and young people have been growing fruit and veg and giving it to older people in the community.

“The next part of this project will be to extend our garden by developing an area of wasteland used for dumping beside it so that older people in the community can use it too. This means older and young people will be able to work together and learn from each other.”

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He continued: “We also want to develop a small woodland area next to the river which runs through the village, the wood is beside it. It is wasteland at the moment and there have been incidents of underage drinking there so we are going to plant more trees and clear the area.

“We will run to workshops out in the woodland telling local people about the the diverse range of wildlife, plants and flowers that are there. This will help show people that this is an area to be looked after and respected.”

Patrick explained that project at the Tobernoney Well will also create a vibrant local space. “It’s a disused old well that used to supply the drinking water for the village,” he said. “It’s a part of the village’s heritage which was a dumping site that has been cleared up.

“There’s a wetland area there and we want get older and young people involved in work to increase the range wildlife there.

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“These projects are going to improve the look of the village, increasing the natural habitat and giving the area a boost. And they will also break down the barriers between young and older people, helping them develop relationships and learn from each other, and giving them a sense of community ownership.”

Dillon Johnson, 17, from Mounthill in Cloughmills, got involved in the Incredible Edibles project run by the group because he was just standing around on street corners with nothing to do. “It gives me something to focus on,” said Dillon. “Before I got involved with the project I was bored and just stood around with my friends doing nothing really.

“There’s not much in the village for young people at all, so when we got the chance to take part we thought we’d give it a try. It’s class – my friends and cousins go along to and we garden, pull out potatoes and other veg, do some watering and look after the area.

Dillon explained that the food grown in the garden is given to older people in the village. “We have grown things like potatoes, peas carrots and cabbages,” he said. “And older people can come down and take what they want, or we deliver it to them if that’s needed

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“This project is community centred and everyone is working together. I never thought I would enjoy gardening, but now I’m involved with this project I just love it.”

Frank Hewitt, Big Lottery Fund NI Chair, said: “These Lottery grants will make a real impact on improving local rural and urban environments across the UK through the protection of habitats and threatened wildlife. I am delighted to see Community Wildlife encouraging people of all ages and backgrounds to get active and learn about nature.”

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