PICTURES: Blooming Gardeners therapeutic gardening project in Barbaraville in Easter Ross awarded funding to create wildflower meadow and help adults with learning disabilities
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A therapeutic gardening project in Easter Ross has been awarded a grant of over £430 from a community initiative support scheme.
North Highland Initiative’s Community Infrastructure Support Programme (CISP) have awarded the grant to Blooming Gardeners, based at the former Green Wellie Garden Centre in Barbaraville, to help adults with learning disabilities enjoy and develop their awareness of horticulture and nature.
They now plan to create a new wildflower meadow with views across the Cromarty Firth to benefit its gardeners and the wider local community.
Dr Fiona Sim, Chair of Blooming Gardeners, said: “With spring just around the corner, we’re delighted that North Highland Initiative’s Community Infrastructure Support Programme has awarded us a grant to create our new wildflower meadow and help support our wider therapeutic gardening project in Easter Ross.
“Here at Blooming Gardeners, we’ve been helping adults with learning disabilities enjoy horticulture and nature for over three years. This latest grant funding means we can undertake this new venture and make a positive, lasting improvement to the local environment. It will not only enhance the wellbeing of adults with learning disabilities and local care home residents, but will provide enjoyment for members of the wider community.”
She added: “We found out about NHI’s Community Infrastructure Support Programme through a Senior Development Officer for ‘Green Health’ at NHS Highland.
“We'd certainly recommend the programme to other eligible community groups. The application was straightforward. NHI was very helpful and encouraging in answering queries about the process and the decision about granting us an award came through very quickly.”
Once created, Blooming Gardeners hopes that the wildflower meadow will also be enjoyed by residents of the Mull Hall Care Home, which is just across the road from the Green Wellie site.
The project aims not only to enhance the natural beauty of the site, but also to attract bees, butterflies and other insects thanks to the seeding of native species. The project will also promote discussion with the gardeners about the importance of caring for the environment, as well as the importance of native flower species to wildlife.
NHI was established in 2005 as a direct result of His Royal Highness the Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay’s involvement in bringing together the farming community, local businesses, and the tourism industry to try to address some of the challenges facing rural communities in the far north of Scotland by creating a powerful regional identity for the area.
As part of the overall objective of the charity, NHI operates across the counties of Caithness, Sutherland, and Ross & Cromarty to assist in making this part of the UK a place where businesses and communities are sustainable.
Genevieve Duhigg, non-executive Chair of NHI, added: “NHI is delighted to be providing grant funding to help Blooming Gardeners create this wonderful new wildflower meadow as part of their ongoing therapeutic gardening project.
“NHI’s Community Infrastructure Support Programme is already helping other community support projects across the region, including initiatives with a focus on food, farming and leadership. Our aim is to target areas, projects, and local initiatives for which Government Support packages may not be able to assist, and those ineligible for emergency funding.
“With a limit of £1,000 of funding per project available, this allows us to provide multiple smaller grants aimed at reaching out to as many communities as possible and we now want to encourage even more community groups around the North Highlands to apply in 2022 with a particular focus on building environmental sustainability and resilience.”
In 2022 NHI will continue to deliver its Community Infrastructure Support Programme, which has awarded over £98,000 to 107 projects across the region in the last two years.
As part of its ongoing work, Blooming Gardeners aims to maintain and improve the health and wellbeing of individuals with potential exclusion issues through involvement in horticulture and to develop their awareness and understanding of the natural environment and their responsibility towards it.
The ground preparation, seed-sowing and ongoing maintenance for the project will be undertaken by Blooming Gardeners. The company is managed by volunteer directors and employs three part-time horticultural trainers who guide and support the gardeners in growing flowers and vegetables, soft landscaping and learning about garden maintenance. They are assisted by one regular volunteer.
There are currently 11 gardeners at Blooming Gardeners, each attending for between 6 and 30 hours per week. In an exciting new development, links have been made with a local special school to enable senior pupils to experience working alongside the gardeners.
For more information about Blooming Gardeners, visit www.bloominggardeners.org.uk and to learn more about the North Highland Initiative you can go to www.northhighlandinitiative.co.uk
