Funding boost for voluntary projects in Charleville area
THE Community food growing fund,‘Energia Get Ireland Growing’, created by GIY (Grow It Yourself ), has given funding to Charleville Men’s Shed Association and Newtown Tidy Towns.
Nationally, Energia has awarded €75,000 to food growing projects all across the country. With Charleville Men’s Shed Association, the group hosts an annual barbecue inviting the whole community. They also arrange a communal meal and distribute what produce is then left over. The group has been offered a garden to use by HSE this year and they hope to produce more vegetables to use, and share with community. Meanwhile, Newtown Tidy Towns in Charleville, hopes to purchase heritage Irish apple trees; herbs, all of which community members will be encouraged to harvest; and source flower seeds that will enhance the biodiversity of the area. Each will receive €500.
The teams behind 86 community projects will each receive funds for their unique projects. Each group will be awarded funding ranging from €500 to €2,000 with one group receiving €5,000. All groups aim to encourage more people to grow their own food within their community.
The founder of GIY Michael Kelly said, “It is a real honour to meet the people behind some of the most incredible projects being organised mostly by volunteers in communities right across the country. We are delighted to award the recipients of the 2018 Energia Get Ireland Growing fund. We, along with Energia, share in the joy of helping 86 community groups to get their food growing initiatives underway or further developed in parishes, towns, villages and cities across 27 counties.”
This is the sixth year of the fund, which has already supported over 500 community food growing projects to date, positively impacting over 140,000 people. €410,000 has been awarded over the last six years and this was distributed to projects all across the country.