€4,500 in funding allocated to four of Kerry’s food-growing initiatives

THE Grow It Yourself (GIY) Get Ireland Growing Fund, run in partnership with Energia, has allocated €4,500 between four Kerry initiatives.

Awards were granted nationwide to community groups, schools, and not-for-profit organisations planning food-growing projects. The four Kerry winners are Rath Oraigh Childcare (€500), TIRC Women Group (€1,000), Glencar Community Care Garden (€1,000), and Recovery Haven Organic Fruit and Veg Garden Club (€2,000).

The funding for Recovery Haven will help the group expand its existing Garden Club, with the team hoping to add an organic fruit and vegetable garden area to its current facility at Haig’s Terrace in Tralee.

The people at Glencar Community Care Garden said it would love to establish a poly-tunnel filled with nutritious fruit and veg, while TIRC Women Group said its gardening project will offer the women that avail of its services a safe place to meet and integrate with other locals.

Elsewhere, staff at Rath Oraigh say they want to grow produce at a nearby allotment, in the hope that making jams and soups will give its children knowledge of healthy foods that can be produced by hand.

GIY founder Michael Kelly described the plans as motivating and creative, adding that he feels they will have a positive impact for the people in their parishes, towns, villages.

Wellness Coach Alison Canavan, Recovery Haven’s Kenneth Reynolds, GIY’s Karen O’Donoghue, and Energia’s Amy O’Shaughnessy