Moss Side estate's youth gardening group benefits from National Lottery funding
The group recently received £5,000 worth of funding to help continue its inspirational work in the local community.
A member of the gardening club pouring soil into planters bought using National Lottery funding
Submitted by Bunmi Adigun
Residents of a local council estate have been able to turn over a new leaf thanks to the hard work of the community's youth gardening club.
The Greenheys Residents Association in Moss Side, Greater Manchester was recently awarded £5,000 of National Lottery Funding to continue to support its youth gardening club, providing much-needed tools and equipment.
The club has dedicated itself to beautifying the estate's once neglected outdoor spaces.
Thanks to the funding, the club has also been able to enlist the help of Manchester Forest Schools workers, who have helped to develop the skills of the budding gardeners through weekly sessions in the community.
Prior to the setting up of the youth gardening club, the area was overrun by litter and vermin and was consistently used for illegal fly-tipping.
Through the Greenheys Residents Association, the gardening club (which is open to ages five to 15) was created with the aim of getting young people more involved in their area.
From organising community clean ups to planting trees and helping to install new footpaths, the youth gardening club has gone from strength to strength and has become a beacon of inspiration for locals who are now taking more pride in the estate.
Despite the Covid-19 lockdowns the rest of the community has managed to nip littering in the bud and through their hard work in the community garden, the young people have sowed the seeds of good garden upkeep in the estate.
The change in attitude among the residents highlights just how much of an impact the young people have had on changing the culture of the local community.
Clare Prendergast, Green lead and Treasurer at Greenheys Residents Association, said: “During the lockdowns, I would say at least 95% of people’s back gardens were done up and these were places that were vermin infested and had issues with fly tipping.
"People did all sorts of incredible things in their back garden and I think seeing the youth gardening club making a difference to the estate, gave them the confidence that they could too.
"They would look out the front or the community garden and say, ‘I can do that’ and then went home and did it and for me that’s one of the most exciting things about our project.
“Making the outside look nice was not a primary purpose for the residents, but with the young people picking up the mess week in and week out, slowly but surely the litter stopped being dropped. The litter is so much less than when we started.”
Gillian Halliwell, Head of Funding for the North West at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “I am incredibly proud to see the positive impact this funding is having on young people in communities across Greater Manchester.
"The past year has highlighted the many challenges they have to face, and how groups like Greenheys Resident Association have dedicated themselves to helping young people in the community to prosper and thrive."
