Garden buddies project set to bloom with Lottery grant

Area:

East Midlands

Programme:

Reaching Communities

Release date:

14 2 2012

The future looks set to be a bed of roses for a South Northants green fingered volunteer project that receives over £186,000 in National Lottery good cause funding.

South Northants Volunteer Bureau’s Garden Buddies programme has been awarded the grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme, which aims to help those most in need and build stronger communities.  

This new project will offer a gardening service for older people who are not able to maintain their own gardens. It will also be available to carers who are unable to devote time to their garden due to their caring commitments. They will be able to book the services of the Garden Buddies, who are volunteers and able to both tend a garden on an ongoing basis and make more significant amendments to a garden so beneficiaries can maintain it themselves.

A typical gardening session will last about two hours and involve a team of between two and five buddies working under the supervision of a project worker. Sessions can involve typical tasks such as grass cutting and pruning but can extend to larger-scale ground clearances and reorganisations. Development of the garden buddies themselves is an important factor of the project and training opportunities will be available for them to become garden leaders, with more involvement on a project level and increased levels of responsibility.

Rob Tracey, Chief Executive of South Northants Volunteer Bureau said: “Garden Buddies will provide a bespoke volunteer gardening service to local older, disadvantaged and vulnerable residents. This service will enable people to remain in their own homes and enjoy improved wellbeing from the befriending and companionship of the buddies, as well as the chance to get involved in some of the gardening if they feel able to. Our volunteers will also benefit from developing self-esteem, social skills and improving their employability potential.”

Also receiving funding in the region this month is the Confederation of Indian Organisations (UK), which has been awarded £300,000 to support South Asian stroke victims and their families in Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham, Derby, Northampton and Wellingborough. The project aims to reduce the incidences of strokes through health education and activities and translate and produce leaflets and information, which will break down barriers of language and culture.

The project will also enable outreach workers to visit stroke survivors at home or in hospital and provide information, secondary preventive advice and emotional support. Healthy activities will also be offered such as Indian dance sessions and walking clubs and volunteering opportunities to help beneficiaries develop their life skills. It is estimated that 13,500 beneficiaries will be helped over the course of this three-year project.

Mick McGrath, Big Lottery Fund Head of the East Midlands region said: “The Garden Buddies scheme is a great example of the type of innovative community project that can make such a difference with National Lottery funding. I would encourage any groups and charities in the region that are looking to turn their ideas into reality to apply to BIG’s Reaching Communities programme.”

A full list of East Midlands projects receiving Reaching Communities funding today:

Further Information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours media contact: 07867 500 572
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Ask BIG a question here: https://ask.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Follow BIG on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BigLotteryFund #BIGlf
Find BIG on facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFund

Notes to Editors

• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 46% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since June 2004 BIG has awarded over £4.4bn.
• The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £27 billion has now been raised and more than 370,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.

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