Education & Communities News
Hartcliffe Health and Environmental Action Group – August 2015
Do you remember the pictures of many hands helping to put up a new cover on a poly tunnel for the Hartcliffe Health and Environmental Action Group? They had a less than useful space with a cover in shreds and we were able to help them with a new cover. I visited them recently and was shown how they had lost no time in making use of it. They have recently harvested cucumbers in the…
Primary School Grants in 2014-2015 Academic Year
The grants that we donated to ten primary schools in the Bristol, South Gloucester and North Somerset area in 2014 were much appreciated. Just three examples are: Henbury Court Primary Academy who said the grant enabled them to buy seeds and plants for their colourful enclosed garden which is a haven of peace and tranquillity amid a very large playing field. The children were not there when I visited but the special needs teacher who…
Community Space Challenge
On a sunny spring day in April, Cynthia Troup, Education Co-ordinator for Avon Gardens Trust, handed over a cheque for £500 to Ben Carpenter for the Community Space Challenge. The donation will to go towards the building and filling of five raised beds at the Springfield Allotments in Knowle West in Bristol. Working with the local south Bristol primary schools, Ben runs a Forest School with a programme where children spend half their time learning…
Dry Arch Growers – Fifty Apple Trees and a Wassail
A blowy January morning in Bathampton at the Dry Arch Growers site saw a large gathering of volunteers to plant young apple trees with a wassail in the afternoon to drive out the evil spirits and encourage good fortune. Hard work by many people had the trees planted by early afternoon, well staked, fed and happy in their new location. These new trees join some four year old apples planted for the local primary school…
Shire Greens and the Daisy Field
Shire Greens form part of the Shirehampton Community Action Forum, an overarching body which provides communication facilities for community projects. Shire Greens have planted and are looking after a community orchard on the Daisy Field near Shirehampton station. Winter is the time to prune pears and apples so on a Saturday morning early in December neighbours gathered to set about the pruning under instruction from an expert. During 2015 Shire Greens had applied to Avon…
The Carers’ Centre, Bath
Many people of all ages may find themselves the unpaid carer for someone who needs extra support day to day, from children looking after a parent with a disability to an elderly couple where one partner is the carer for the other. The Carers’ Centre helps carers who live in Bath and North East Somerset. They provide information and advice, breaks from caring and emotional support together with personal development, support into work and a…
Hartcliffe Health and Environmental Action Group – Autumn 2014
We gave a ‘helping hand’ to the Hartcliffe Health and Environmental Action Group (HHEAG) by providing a new cover for one of their poly tunnels. On the appointed sunny morning I turned up at the allotment site as a volunteer to meet a dozen people, all connected with running HHEAG. Led by Sue Walker together with the leader of their allotment gardening and under the instruction of an expert, we were soon issued with spades…
Hartcliffe Health and Environmental Action Group – Summer 2014
We are delighted to give support to community groups in the form of a modest grant. Hartcliffe Health & Environment Action Group is a charity based at the Gatehouse Centre in the Dundry View area of South Bristol. Established for 24 years, the group works to improve the health, wellbeing and environment of local people. They aim to achieve this by providing a range of services and activities for residents. All projects are led by…
Dry Arch Growers
We are delighted to give support to community groups in the form of a modest grant. Dry Arch Growers are a Bathampton Community Co-operative registered as an Industrial Provident Society. They comprise a group of people from Bathampton and surrounding areas whose aim is to manage back to useful life a six acre site which was, until twenty years ago, a market garden, for the benefit of the local community. Situated in an area of…
Primary School Grants in 2013-2014 Academic Year
As a new member of the committee, I have taken on the responsibility of Education. A retired primary teacher, I taught in various Bristol primaries but mainly Victoria Park, Bedminster; Gay Elms, Withywood and finally All Hallows Preparatory, Cranmore. This year, I have loved visiting three of the primaries that had benefited from our grants, and I feel very enthusiastic about facilitating and supporting gardening in schools. Especially impressive was Paulton Primary School, where a…
Bristol Walled Garden Project Update
The Walled Garden Project at the old St Luke’s Vicarage in Barton Hill, Bristol is a community garden. In 2013 they applied to the Avon Gardens Trust for funding to create a Herb Garden within the space. Local residents come together to cultivate the garden with vegetables and fruit. Open days with community activities and delicious food are popular. Impressed by the dedication and enthusiasm shown by the leaders, the Avon Gardens Trust were please…
Primary School Grants in 2012-2013 Academic Year
In this last academic year, we received applications for a small grant towards gardens from eight schools within Avon. Two of the schools were from Bath and North East Somerset and six were from North Somerset. All these schools received a grant of £25 per school. Following the Annual General Meeting in July, it was proposed, seconded and agreed by the members present that the amount given to each successful school in the future would…