Successful Projects in Offaly awarded funding from Energia Get Ireland Growing
The Get Ireland Growing Fund run by GIY (Grow It Yourself) in partnership with Energia have announced the winners of the grants from a fund of €70,000 for 2017. Grants will be awarded to the successful food growing projects planned by community groups, schools and not-for-profit organisations all across the country.
The teams behind 85 community projects are all being granted with funds for their unique plans. Groups from Kerry to Donegal and beyond will be presented with their funding amounts ranging from €500 to €2,000.
Projects set for support include a grow garden for the Irish Wheelchair Association Centre in Carlow, the provision of tools and seeds for the Horticulture course at the Ballymun Adult Read and Write Scheme, project funding for a community garden initiative for the South Inner City Community Development Association supporting residents of the Liberties, a food growing project for Galway Simon’s new Residential Service ‘Tuí Bhrian’ in Galway City which currently caters for youths aged 18 to 25 years of age. In Monaghan a funding award goes to Youth Work Ireland in Clones; they plan to use a derelict piece of land behind their youth cafe to build a vegetable patch. In Kerry a funding award goes to the Recovery Haven – Organic Fruit and Veg Garden Club, the team behind the Recovery Haven Kerry Cancer Support house provide free cancer support services to the people of Kerry, these are just some of the many deserving projects which will be supported by the 2017 fund.
Offaly
In Offaly a funding award goes to the Scoil Mhuire Naofa Rhode, The team there says, “We are desperately trying to get the kids in our school to eat healthy. We constantly try and introduce healthy foods to the Kids that we the teachers bring in from home. It would be incredible to go outside, pick some lettuce, tomatoes and actually put them in the kids sandwiches. As the area I teach in is disadvantaged the lunched are generally convenient foods, snack bars, it is near impossible to show examples of ‘good food’ to kids unless we supply it ourselves. The children will try the organic foods. They will tell their parents about the foods and the garden we create, encouraging them to bring them into their homes thus impacting lunches. This inevitably will lead to healthier children.”
In Offaly a funding award goes to the Horticulture Group Acquired Brain Injury Ireland. The team there says, “We hope to develop a wheelchair accessible sensory garden & plant some fruit trees. The sensory garden can be a sensory experience for our more severely impaired clients where they can enjoy the different smells, touch and visual impact of the beautiful plants. It can be somewhere quiet for clients to sit, relax & practice mindfulness.
Clients can continue to manage the garden & pick the fruit as it ripens. This will further implement meaning into their lives.”
Commenting at the awards ceremony, the founder of GIY Michael Kelly said, “We are delighted to award the recipients of the 2017 Energia Get Ireland Growing fund. Today is one of those dream days at work where we help 85 community groups from all across Ireland to get their food growing initiatives underway. The number of applications we received this year has been the highest amount ever received; these motivating and creative plans, which have been outlined will have real impact for people in parishes, towns, villages and cities across 31 counties. These types of projects usually struggle to find funding and supports and we are very pleased that GIY in partnership with Energia can now support these groups to grow food in their own communities.”
Amy O’Shaughnessy from Energia “It’s been an absolute privilege for Energia to support Get Ireland Growing. We’ve been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and dedication of community groups all over Ireland and the number of applications for funding really surpassed our expectations. Energia is committed to helping our customers improve the sustainability of their homes and businesses by being more energy efficient. Our partners at GIY have now given us the opportunity to help make a real difference in towns and villages across the country through this wonderful initiative. We’d like to congratulate all today’s awardees and wish them the very best of luck with their growing projects.”
In addition to the funding provided, GIY will also provide additional supports and opportunities for knowledge exchange between the projects, helping the best ideas to be shared through ‘Energia Get Ireland Growing’. All of the projects remain part of the GIY network in the long term, giving them access to other GIY resources and additional groups and projects within the network, creating a long-term legacy.
This is the fourth year of the fund, which has already supported more than 400 community food growing projects to date, positively impacting over 100,000 people. €270,000 has been awarded over the last four years and this was distributed to projects all across the country. Some of these flagship projects include, a food growing initiave in a young persons probation centre in Cork; the installation of food gardens at Focus Ireland; an edible quayside project in county Wexford, which has seen tomatoes flourishing on the railings at the New Ross quayside, a vegetable garden for asylum seekers in Clonakilty, Cork, a horticultural project for unemployed men in Waterford that supplies salads to restaurants and a community garden to reduce isolation on Inishbofin island to name but a few.
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2017 projects, which have been awarded funding by the Energia Get Ireland Growing Fund.
Sow Awardees 2017 (all receive €500)
Ballyhaunis Family Resource Centre Community Garden in Mayo, Ballymun Adult Read and Write Scheme Dublin, New Cross College Garden Dublin, Westmeath Ballynacargy Tidy Towns, Barefield National School in Clare, Bohola NS in Mayo, Roscommon – Brothers of Charity in Boyle, Sligo – Calry Active Retirement Ass, Waterford – Cappoquin Tidy Towns, Tipperary – Cashel Scout Troup, Limerick – Castleconnell National school, Galway – Coláiste Mhuirlinne / Merlin College Community Garden, Donegal – Convoy Community Playgroup, Cork Educate Together Secondary School, Meath – Dunderry National School, Laois – Erkina House, Roscommon – Feevagh National School, Dublin – Gaelscoil na Giuise Parents Association, Cork – Gaelscoil Uí Ríordáin, Galway Simon Community, Tuí Bhrian, Donegal – Garden Gnomes, Wicklow – Garden of Weed’n, Dublin – GIY At The Tenters (SWICN), Tipperary – GIY Clonmel, Monaghan – GIY Monaghan, Kildare – GIY Narraghmore, Limerick – Headway Limerick, Carlow – Irish Wheelchair Association, Cavan – Jampa Ling Community Garden, Kilkenny – Kells Tidy Towns, Roscommon – kilteevan NS, Donegal – Lifford/Clonleigh Resource Centre Garden Project, Galway – Maree N.S. Garden, Leitrim – Mohill Community Allotments, Limerick – Murroe Scouts (Monday Night Beavers), Tipperary – Our Lady’s National School Garden, Laois – Portlaoise Educate Together NS, Mayo – Railwalk Community Garden, Kerry – Rathoraighchildcare – the children in our centre, Cork – Ringmahon Rangers F.C Schoolboys, Meath – Rosemount Community Garden, Offaly – Scoil Mhuire Naofa Rhode Offaly, Westmeath – Scoil Phádraig Naofa, Meath – SMART Project, Antrim – Springhill Primary School, Cork – St. Brogan’s Greenhouse, Kildare – St. Joseph’s School Garden, Galway – St. Joseph’s Special School Green School Committee, Leitrim – StArt Studios ltd, Dublin – TREEmber Mills.
Grow Awardees 2017 (all receive €1,000)
Antrim – ‘Berries and Blooms Allotments’ Project, Armagh – Drumarg Veg, Cavan – Growing in West Cavan, Derry – Cairde Dhroim nDamh (Maghera GIY), Donegal – Áislann Rann na Feirste, Dublin – Mercy College, Dublin – St. Teresa’s Gardens Community Garden Group, Dublin – South Inner City Community Development Association, Dublin – Santry Community Garden, Fermanagh – Common Ground N.I. / GIY Fermanagh, Galway – Dyke Road, Kerry – TIRC Women Group, Kerry – Glencar Community Care Garden – Glencar, Kilkenny – Chapel Gate Residents Association Kilmacow, Longford – Catkins Early Years Childcare Service, Louth – Praxis Care, The Hub, GIY Navan, Horticulture Group Acquired Brain Injury Ireland in Offaly, in Sligo the Diversity Sligo Poly Tunnel Project, in Tyrone Apple Action Tyrone, in Meath the GIY North Meath group, in Westmeath Growing in Mind and Clonbonny National School in Wexford Davidstown Primary School and in Wicklow the Community Garden project.
Harvest Awardees 2017 (all receive €2,000)
Antrim Grow for Therapy, Cork Reimagine Cork’s Inner City Garden, Cork Churchfield Community Trust, Dublin St. Mary’s Primary School, Kerry Recovery Haven, Kilkenny Recovery Garden, Limerick Adapt domestic abuse service, Mayo Charlestown Organic Community Garden, Monaghan Youth Work Ireland in Clones, Westmeath Growing for Inclusion.
