Offaly Project awarded one of the top prizes in Energia Get Ireland Growing Awards

The winners have been announced in the ‘Energia Get Ireland Growing’ community growing fund created by GIY (Grow It Yourself) in partnership with Energia.

A fund of €75,000 has today been awarded to 86 community food growing projects across the island of Ireland. The teams behind 86 community projects will each receive funds in order to develop their unique projects and ideas further for the benefit of their local community.  The Growery in Birr Co. Offaly was a finalist and receives €2000.

The recipients include community groups, schools, NGOs and Not for Profits, community gardens and allotment groups, GIY groups, hospitals, crèches, direct provision centres and men’s sheds all across the country. Each group will be awarded funding ranging from €500 to €2,000 with one group receiving €5,000.

Some projects awarded support funds this year include –

• Waterford Women’s Centre which supports women who experience social, cultural, educational and economic disadvantage through the delivery of community education programmes;
• Mullingar Rehab & Recovery Team who work with people from 18 up to and including people over 65 years, with and severe and enduring mental illness;
• Global Action Plan Community Garden, Ballymun who bring people together of all ages and abilities to promote sustainable, local & organic food production, wellbeing & community engagement;

• Cliftonville Men’s Shed in Belfast who have 20 volunteer gardeners and regularly host youth groups and community events in conjunction with the local community centre and schools;
  

  Energia Get Ireland Growing finalists. Pictured are The Growery in Birr Co. Offaly with Eimhin Callanan, Eileen Kuntz and Chrissy Albright who were finalists and awarded €2,000 at the presentation of the ‘Energia Get Ireland Growing Fund’ celebration, also pictured are Maura Derrane from RTE’s Today Show, Amy O’Shaughnessy, Marketing Acquisition and Sponsorship Manager from Energia with GIY’s Head of Community Development and Campaign Ambassador Karen O’Donohoe. GIY and Energia are supporting community projects all across the country to the tune of €75,000; community and voluntary organisations have been granted funds to start or further develop a community food-growing project in their area. Picture: Patrick Browne

• ntal well-being and integration and grow vegetables with the residents in the Montague Direct Provision centre;
• Kilmacow Montessori School who educate pre-school children on the importance of growing and looking after your own crops and taking great pleasure in presenting the foods that are hand grown from an organic garden in school.

The project announced as the overall winner and awarded the top prize of €5,000 is The Zero Waste Community Garden in Kildare which is dedicated to growing fruit and vegetables in a sustainable and organic way for gardeners and community residents. They currently have 13 gardeners with vegetable plots, a heritage orchard and 18 other fruit trees. They grow all year round with the aid of their polytunnel. Their project has a massive positive impact in their community by helping to reduce their carbon footprint, reduce family’s expenditure on food and encourage a healthier lifestyle. They have created a space for people of all ages, nationalities and abilities to mix and grow healthy food enabling their community to work closer together.

Commenting at the awards ceremony, GIY’s Head of Community Development and Campaign Ambassador Karen O’Donohoe said, “We are delighted to help each of these community groups to develop their projects and their ideas through Energia Get Ireland Growing. Reading through each of the applications was so heartening, first of all, there were so many of merit and in addition, every single one of these projects has an inclusive approach at its core and they are all committed to encouraging more people to grow their own food within their community for a wide range of social and environmental benefits. We’re thrilled that this year a project in each of the 32 counties has been selected for funding.”

Amy O’Shaughnessy, Marketing Acquisition and Sponsorship Manager from Energia, “We had a phenomenal response to the campaign this year with entries from every county in Ireland. The passion and dedication of people across the country who are powering positive change in their communities is inspiring. At Energia we are committed to promoting sustainable living and helping families and communities to reduce their carbon footprint, so we’re delighted to support this initiative with GIY.”

In addition to the funding provided, GIY will also provide additional support 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 seventh year of the fund, which has already supported over 580 community food growing projects to date, positively impacting over 165,000 people. €485,000 has been awarded over the last seven years and this was distributed to projects all across the country.

For further details on the ‘Energia Get Ireland Growing’ 2019 see GIY.ie

2019 projects, which have been awarded funding by the Energia Get Ireland Growing Fund.

Sow Awardees 2019 (all receive €500)

In Mayo, Ballinrobe Tidy Towns; Ballyhaunis Community Garden; Starting a school garden in Charlestown, Mayo; Headford Community Orchard; Cloghans National School, Ballina. In LONGFORD Tang National School, Ballymahon;. In LIMERICK Knockadea national School, Ballylanders, Limerick; Gairdin Sairseal, Shelbourne Road Limerick; Mulcair Men’s Shed, Murroe, Limerick; St Mary’s Park Allotments, Nicholas Street, Limerick; Desmond Complex Community Garden, NewCastle West. In WATERFORD Amber Hill Group Kilmeaden; GrowTogether Educate Together, Grangemanor. In KILDARE St. Bridget’s National School, Ballysax, The Curragh; Beechpark Allotments Wildlife Garden and Pond, leixlip. In CORK South Lee Social Inclusion Gardening Group, Mahon; Mayfield Gardening Group; Parkowen transformation, Waterfall; Charleville Mens Shed; Kilbehenny NS, Mitchelstown; Castlemartyr NS Cork. In DUBLIN St Vincent’s Special School, Navan Road  Dublin 7; Donaghmede Men’s Shed; Scoil Chiarain Educational Garden, St Canices Road, Dublin 11; Catherine, Finglas West, Dublin 11; St Brigid’s Community Garden, Stillorgan, Dublin ; Green St. Marks, Tallaght, Dublin; Damo’s GIY Club, Perrystown, Dublin 12; North Dublin National School Project Garden, Glasnevin. In GALWAY Kilcolgan Educate Together National School Garden, Clarinbridge; Knocknacarra Educate Together NS; FICHEALL,FATAI’S FEILEACAIN I NGAIRDIN iGNOID. Bothar na Slogain, Galway; Scoil Chroi Iosa/, Claddagh  Galway Garden; NUI Galway Organic Gardening Society, Newcastle Galway. In MEATH Scoil Oilibheir Naofa, Kilcloon. In DONEGAL Scoil Aodh Rua agus Nuala’s Green Fingers, Donegal Town; Gairda­n Loch Finne, Donegal town; Gairdin Glas, Leitrim Ceanainn, Donegal. In CLARE Ennis Day Centre. In WICKLOW Ballinacor Community Project, Rathdrum and Church Terrace Community Garden, Dunlavin Wicklow. In SLIGO Get up and Grow, Touurlestranel In ANTRIM Cliftonville Men’s Shed, Belfast. In LEITRIM Mohill community college garden; Kinlough Community Garden, Kinlough Leitrim. In WEXFORD Barntown School Vegetable Garden. In TIPPERARY Cashel 8th Tipperary Scout Troop

Grow Awardees 2019 (all receive €1,000)

In CLARE Knockanean NS, Ennis, Co. Clare and Dulick Centre, Gort Road, Ennis. In OFFALY Firceall Grow Group; In WATERFORD Solas Cancer Support Centre -Men’s Group Garden; Sowing and Growing Recovery Garden. In ARMAGH Taghnevan Community Development Association, lurgan. In CAVAN Jampa LIng Community Garden, Bawnboy; In LAOIS Kiln lane residents association, Mountrath; Voice of Migrants Ireland, Portlaoise. In CARLOW Eist’s Edible Vegetable project, Carlow; Forward Steps Resource centre, Tullow. In KILKENNY Kilmacow Montessori School. In SLIGO Sligo Community Training Centre; Diversity Sligo Poly tunnel project. In DOWN RMS Polytunnel expansion project. In KERRY Taobh Linn; Fiachne Day Centre Gardening Project. In LONGFORD GIY Legan Co Longford. In ROSCOMMON Nuala’s Garden regeneration. In GALWAY Highfield Park Residents Association. In CORK Growing The Community at Goleen Community Centre. In TYRONE Acorn Women’s Group, Augher. In WEXFORD Granstown Priory Scheme. In DONEGAL Ards Walled  Garden Community Project, Letterkenny. In MONAGHAN Mullaghmatt / Cortolvin Community Garden, Teach Na nDaoine Family Resource centre.

Harvest Awardees 2019 (all receive €2,000)

Tombrack community garden in Wexford; St. Paul’s BNS 50th anniversary garden in Waterford; The Waterford Women’s Centre; Clann Family Resource Centre (Community Garden) in Oughteard, Galway; Drogheda Grows in Louth; Moat Primary school Lisnaskea polytunnel, Fermanagh; Mullingar Rehab & Recovery Team in Westmeath; and Global Action Plan Community Garden, Ballymun; The Growery in Birr Co. Offaly

Overall Award winner 2019  ( €5,000 prize) 

The Zero Waste Community Garden in Kildare is dedicated to growing fruit and vegetables in a sustainable and organic way for gardeners and community residents. They currently have 13 gardeners with vegetable plots, a heritage orchard and 18 other fruit trees.  They grow all year round with the aid of their polytunnel. Their project has a massive positive impact in their community by helping to reduce their carbon footprint, reduce family’s expenditure on food and encourage a healthier lifestyle. They have created a space for people of all ages, nationalities and abilities to mix and grow healthy food enabling their community to work closer together.

In Offaly a GIY and Energia Get Ireland Growing funding award also goes to:

Firceall Grow Group

“This grant would be used to help get our grow group off the ground. Our group is made up of students in an ASD class and their SNAs and teachers. It is anticipated that we will start in the Spring and that in the next school year, the group would complete the ‘Grow It, Cook It, Eat It’ short course for their Junior Cycle.

This project will impact on our students, as it will provide a much-needed break from the classroom, is educational as well as sensory boosting. It will allow the students to make their own crops, which they can then use in our kitchen to create lunches etc. from. It will show them that they can in fact GIY!”