Severn Trent Community Fund

WALMLEY ASH ALLOTMENT AWARDED £3218.40 FROM SEVERN TRENT COMMUNITY FUND

Walmley Ash Allotment based in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham is celebrating after being awarded £3218.40 in funding from Severn Trent Community Fund.

Walmley Ash Allotment will use the funding to install 8 IBC reconditioned tanks around the allotment site to allow plotholders easier access to water. They will be located where plotholders are some distance from an available standpipe and help to alleviate the frustration of filling up a watering can when someone else is using another standpipe on the same supply line. It can take longer to fill up especially at peak times of the day when several plotholders are all wanting to water their crops.

Storing the rainwater will also enable the allotment to reduce the cost of its water bills. Other allotments across the country have already implemented this idea and are reaping the benefits.

This Severn Trent funding will benefit all the users of the allotment including local schools, youth organisations and charities that visit the allotment. 

It is hoped the project will be completed by the end of September 2024.

Natalie Cunningham, Community Fund Officer at Severn Trent said: “We’re really happy that our funding is helping to make a big difference to those who use the allotments. With the added benefit of saving money and water by using rainwater instead through the new tanks.” 

“A key focus of us and our fund is to support projects that look to benefit not only the environment, but the people living in our region to – and this project is a great example of that, and we’re looking forward to hearing about the difference it makes.”

The funding from the Severn Trent Community Fund, which awards grant money to improve the three elements of community wellbeing - people, places, and environment - means that plotholders will have more water available and will no longer have to queue at standpipes.

Beverley Cudd, Secretary for Walmley Ash Allotment said: “We are delighted that the Severn Trent Community Fund has agreed to fund our project. We are thankful to the Severn Trent Customer Panel for selecting us for funding so that we will be able to press on with our plans to install 8 IBC water tanks. This is important because it will help to reduce association costs and provide us with much needed rainwater for watering our crops. This will make a big difference to everyone that uses the allotment and is very much appreciated.” 

About the Severn Trent Community Fund

From 2020, Severn Trent is giving away £10 million over five years through its Community Fund to support local projects, charities, and community groups in the Severn Trent region - helping to make a real and tangible difference to the wellbeing in our communities. The Community Fund is overseen by an independent panel, made up of Severn Trent customers, who review applications and make the final decisions on where the money will go.  

The Severn Trent Community Fund looks to support projects that aim to improve community wellbeing, focusing on three elements:

• People: projects that help people to lead a healthier life and gain new skills

• Places: projects that help to create better places to live in and use

• Environment: projects that will help look after our natural environment, give people greater access to that environment, or help look after water.

More can be found out on their website HTTPS://stwater.co.uk/communityfund

Twitter and LinkedIn: @stwater #STcommunityfund

Instagram and Facebook: @Severn Trent #STcommunityfund

WALMLEY ASH ALLOTMENT CELEBRATES 2022 AFTER RECEIVING NATIONAL LOTTERY FUNDING OF £9441

We are pleased to have been awarded £9441 in funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

We are using the funding to build 2 new storage bays on a porous hard surface and erect a new entrance gate and security fencing against an open public area adjacent to a railway embankment.

This new National Lottery funding will benefit all the users of the allotment including local schools, youth organisations and charities that visit the allotment. 

Allotment users gain a safer and more secure area. It will give users of the allotment an increased sense of security and will hopefully deter burglary.

The new bay area will enable us to have goods delivered at any time of the year despite the weather. Currently drivers are reluctant to deliver goods when the ground is wet as it becomes waterlogged.

Work on the new bays and security fencing commenced on the 20th September 2022 and it is hoped will be complete by the end of October 2022.

National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. The National Lottery Community Fund distributes a share of this to projects to support people and communities to prosper and thrive.

 You can see what the Community Fund does via the following links:-

Twitter: @TNLComFundFacebook: @TNLCommunityFundInstagram: @TNLCommunityFundLinkedIn: The National Lottery Community Fund 

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk

 WALMLEY ASH ALLOTMENT GRANTED £4078 FUNDING FROM RSCTC

Walmley Ash Allotment Association has completed their on-site Schools and Community Meeting Area. The project was funded through Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council’s community grants scheme and will provide a sheltered meeting place for local schools, visitors and community groups who use the site throughout the seasons.

In summer 2019, Walmley Ash Allotment began to develop a long-neglected plot of land to provide space for the construction of a number of raised beds and the purchase and construction of a large gazebo. A successful grant application was made to Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council and the Association was awarded £4,078 in September 2019 to complete the project over the next 12 months.

Walmley Ash Allotments is visited by three local primary schools, Walmley Infant school, the Deanery School and the Shrubbery School and young people from the National Citizens Scheme who complete volunteer work around the site with the help and guidance from plot holders. These types of visits encouraged the association to recognise that there was a need for a communal facility on site.

The raised beds will enable groups who may have accessibility needs to have the opportunity to visit and use the site to take part in gardening activities and learn about horticulture and growing their own food. The gazebo will provide a sheltered meeting area and a classroom area for local primary school children, and it is hoped will encourage groups and organisations in the community to experience the hands-on approach to growing their own produce.

Councillor David Pears, Chairman of the Amenities, Leisure and Community Services Committee said “I am very pleased to see the completion of this project and that Walmley Ash Allotments Association is reaching out to the wider community. There are so many benefits to allotment sites and we are proud to be able to allow the Association to share these with the wider community, especially groups that may not otherwise have the opportunity to be involved in this type of activity.”

The project faced delays due to the impact of coronavirus and some additional unforeseen costs but the Association was able to fundraise to cover these and overcome their challenges, with the work being completed in September 2020.

Alan Seager, Chairman of Walmley Ash Allotment Association said “We have faced a number of unforeseen obstacles in delivering our project, but with our contractors and plot holders support and the generous grant from Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council we have provided the site with a superb facility to be used by all plot holders and visitors throughout the year. The gazebo will allow us to have more onsite activities as we will now have a large covered area to promote allotmenteering, school visits and community events. The benefits of having an allotment for both the physical and mental wellbeing are more relevant than ever in these uncertain times.”

Walmley Ash Allotment isn’t the only allotment with a wider community benefit in Sutton Coldfield. Sutton Coldfield is host to 11 allotment sites, which have their own uniqueness and are run by committees made up of volunteers.

More information can be found at https://suttoncoldfieldtowncouncil.gov.uk/community-grants-awards/

WALMLEY ASH ALLOTMENT AWARDED £9580 FROM THE SUTTON COLDFIELD CHARITABLE TRUST

Sutton Coldfield Charitable Trust has awarded us the additional funds of £9580 for the ground works to site a communal Gazebo. 

This would include the base materials, crushed limestone surrounds, and extension to the car parking area. 

Good news is that they have also included funding for the refurbishment of the toilets. 

The principal objectives of the Trust are the provision of Almshouses, the distribution of funds and other measures for the alleviation of hardship and other needs for inhabitants and organisations within the boundaries of the former Borough of Sutton Coldfield.

The Trust's origins can be traced back to Tudor times. Throughout a long history it has improved the lives of generations of people in Sutton Coldfield, particularly those in the greatest need.  It has sustained its core priority to alleviate suffering, while redefining and extending its benefits to reflect changing times and needs.

More information on SCCT can be found at https://www.suttoncoldfieldcharitabletrust.com

We have now had the fence by the main car park repaired and an extension to the metal fencing around plot 1 and 2. They have also repaired the metal fencing by Plot 1 after a huge tree had fallen on it and caused it to buckle and bend.

The Flo Pickering Fund is a fund set up to help allotments throughout the city. The revenue is from the sale and development of allotments. So every time an allotment is sold off the money is supposed to go to the upkeep of remaining allotments. Particularly roads, fences and asbestos removal.

The BDAC (Birmingham & District Allotments Committee) has been trying for years to get some of this money released. After a protracted battle over the last 2 years they have now got approval to carry out work on all sites that have requested it.

We, along with other allotments had a visit from the BDAC, Birmingham City Council and approved contractors to review the repairs we had requested from the Flo Pickering fund.

More information can be found at https://bdacallotments.co.uk/