Groups invited to apply for ‘Grow Wild’ funding

Support is available for creative wild flower projects that bring people together – all ideas are welcome.

Community groups in Lurgan, Portadown and Craigavon are now able to apply for up to £4,000 funding for exciting and imaginative projects using wild flowers and wild flower themes to bring communities together and transform local spaces.

The funding is available through the UK-wide wild flower project Grow Wild, which is supported by the Big Lottery Fund and led by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and already supports a number of community initiatives across Northern Ireland.

Over the past couple of years dozens of groups have been awarded funding of between £1,000 and £4,000 to bring people together to transform a communal space by sowing, growing and enjoying native wild flowers. These projects are now strengthening social bonds, raising awareness of wild flowers and also improving our natural surroundings.

Ideas are now being welcomed for Grow Wild’s 2016 community projects, with applications closing on December 1.

Last Sunday, a number of prospective groups travelled to the Botanic Gardens in Belfast to hear about the Grow Wild community projects at a Big Lunch – another Big Lottery funded programme. They shared ideas with existing community groups and other prospective applicants. Grow Wild was able to highlight that this year young people will be an essential element of any project application alongside the use of native Northern Irish wild flowers.

However, if you missed the event you can still apply, as Grow Wild wants to hear as many brilliant ideas as possible.

Among those who travelled were Caitriona Hughes and others involved with Magheralin Community Association.

Stéphanie Baine, NI Manager for Grow Wild, said: “If you are a youth or community group with a vision to bring your community together and brighten your local area with wild flowers or even bring wild flowers into people’s lives then we would love to hear from you.

“You could become a part of a Grow Wild network of people who are running exciting projects bringing colour and wildlife to their community’s shared spaces.

“There has already been a great line up of community projects across Northern Ireland and the Grow Wild Big Lunch showed how many great ideas are out there.”

For more information about community projects or the wider Grow Wild campaign, please visit the website at www.growwilduk.com