Grants up for grabs for community projects

Community groups in Edinburgh looking to improve the environment in their local park, woodland or green space in the city are being offered the opportunity to apply for grants of up to £5,000 to help with their projects.

The City of Edinburgh Council has allocated £50,000 through the Parks and Gardens Capital Programme to be distributed to projects that will improve the appearance, facilities or conservation value of a local park or open space. Groups can apply for up to £1000, although applications for up to £5000 will be considered where there is match funding. The Parks team will be looking for projects which should be capital / enhancement works rather than routine maintenance items.

Examples of projects that will be funded could include:

• Planters, plants, seating, spring bulbs, bird boxes
• Educational material (e.g. interpretation boards, leaflets)
• Equipment (gardening tools, litter pickers)
• Restoration or creation of new habitats (tree planting, hedge laying, pond construction, woodland management).

Commenting on the initiative, Mark Turley, Director of Services for Communities said, “Edinburgh’s many Friends Groups work very hard to improve the city’s recreational green spaces. By making this money available we hope to enable even more groups to tackle projects in their local area.”

Many of the bulbs which are currently making such a dramatic visual impact on the city have been planted by Edinburgh’s community groups and schools. The Council has planted four million spring bulbs over the past six years. This year alone one million additional bulbs were planted. This is part of the Council’s continual commitment to provide year round floral colour across the city and to improve its bid to become Best City in the national Beautiful Scotland competition.

Edinburgh in Bloom is an all-inclusive campaign which encourages residents, communities and businesses to make positive and lasting improvements to the environmental quality of their local areas for the benefit of local people. The campaign incorporates floral features, permanent and sustainable planting, wildflower meadows, planting for wildlife and much more.

For further information please contact: Karen Hay, Level C.3 Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street, Edinburgh. EH8 8BG. Tel: 0131 469-5196. Email: Karen.hay@edinburgh.gov.uk