Welcome to our Blog!
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We want to share with you the journey of taking on an allotment for Greening Stoke. We will share our ups and our downs, and we hope that you will be able to come and visit us during 2021.
Please sign up to our newsletter too and we can tell you when we are running activities you can join in with. We are starting this adventure in January 2021 in the middle of a national Lockdown. Until things change and begin to open up we are , of course, abiding by all the Covid-19 government guidance and for the foreseeable future only Rachel and Anne will be working, in a socially distanced way, to prepare and maintain Plot 33 for when we can invite the community to work with us. |
FUNDING UPDATES
Wonder Women at Plot 33 - Big Lottery Community Fund
We are delighted to have been awarded funding from the Big Lottery Community Fund to support our activities on the allotment during the winter months of early 2022, through spring and into the summer months. This funding enables us to continue connecting with the Wonder Women group, offering opportunities for women who may be facing isolation, experiencing mental health problems, who are carers for others, or who simply want to get together in the fresh air. At the weekly meetups at Plot 33 we weave creative arts with gardening in a friendly peer support group. Just because winter arrived, it didn't mean we had to stop meeting together and planning for another great season at Plot 33.
Greening Fridays - SOTCC Mental Health Funding
More great news in early 2022 when we heard we'd been awarded funding from Stoke on Trent City Council's Public Health England fund to support people facing mental health problems, particularly from groups who are marginalised.
We'd been wanting to offer additional sessions at the allotment to welcome new people, particularly since we linked up with the social prescribing team in Stoke. The social prescribing team are enthusiastic about the opportunities for mental and physical health improvement by people a With this funding we will be able to offer an additional session on a Friday, hence the name Greening Fridays!
We'd been wanting to offer additional sessions at the allotment to welcome new people, particularly since we linked up with the social prescribing team in Stoke. The social prescribing team are enthusiastic about the opportunities for mental and physical health improvement by people a With this funding we will be able to offer an additional session on a Friday, hence the name Greening Fridays!
Background to The Greening Stoke Project
Greening Stoke first appeared in 2017 in the town centre of Stoke as a small display of edible plants grown in a small street garden featuring repurposed objects including an filing cabinet, a bicycle and old bean cans. The garden was displayed outside the Art Stop, a pop-up workshop venue which was part of Festival Stoke that year.
It created so much interest that in 2019 we successfully gained an Big Lottery Awards for All grant for a bigger project. During the year we supported local people to create and install bright and quirky displays of wildflowers and edible plants, using large and small containers which they made using found and upcycled materials, and to site these around their community, in local streets and public spaces.
It created so much interest that in 2019 we successfully gained an Big Lottery Awards for All grant for a bigger project. During the year we supported local people to create and install bright and quirky displays of wildflowers and edible plants, using large and small containers which they made using found and upcycled materials, and to site these around their community, in local streets and public spaces.
The interest in the project was surprising and encouraging, as we saw local schools, groups, businesses and individuals get on board with Greening Stoke; some experimented with the idea in their own homes and workplaces. Local small businesses and shops, including the market-stall-holders, began to get involved too and as a consequence shaped how the project developed.
We then had funding from Kew Garden's Grow Wild initiative designed to encourage people to grow wild flowers. Greening Stoke was the first Kew Gardens project to take place in an urban street setting.
We then had funding from Kew Garden's Grow Wild initiative designed to encourage people to grow wild flowers. Greening Stoke was the first Kew Gardens project to take place in an urban street setting.
Local People Make it Happen
Greening Stoke got groups and individuals involved in planning and shaping ideas for planting, upcycling containers, choosing locations and which seeds to plant to bring vibrant colour and fresh green foliage around the streets of Stoke.
Flower and fruit seeds were planted in and containers made from upcycled objects such as colanders, handbags or old car wheels, and secured on walls and alongside doorways and open spaces around the town.
During the summer workshops were run in different venues showing people how to create outdoor containers for plants using discarded and found objects e.g. colanders, handbags, food cans, old tyres, etc. learn about seeds, planting and nurturing learn how to fix displays in appropriate and safe ways, including gaining relevant permissions.
Lots of local people, schools, groups, individuals, small businesses got involved and some made their own planters too!
Flower and fruit seeds were planted in and containers made from upcycled objects such as colanders, handbags or old car wheels, and secured on walls and alongside doorways and open spaces around the town.
During the summer workshops were run in different venues showing people how to create outdoor containers for plants using discarded and found objects e.g. colanders, handbags, food cans, old tyres, etc. learn about seeds, planting and nurturing learn how to fix displays in appropriate and safe ways, including gaining relevant permissions.
Lots of local people, schools, groups, individuals, small businesses got involved and some made their own planters too!