WEST END ALLOTMENTS GROW A NEW HUB
A project to provide a Community Hub at the West End & Heysham (North) Allotments has received a funding boost.
West End Morecambe (WEM) – Big Local – the new name of West End Million – has recently approved a £2,000 grant towards the project which is expected to be completed by April.
The West End & Heysham (North) Allotments Association currently has more than 50 plots for members of all ages and has easily accessble growing areas for people with disabilities and mobility issues. It has also given some space over to a local care home for some of their residents to enjoy.
The Association now has plans to create a new, warm and dry hub which will be open all year round with tea and coffee making facilities and a wood burning stove where members coping with social isolation can meet others, especially when the growing season ends and the allotments are quiet.
The new hub will offer space for a pop up classroom for local schools to use whatever the weather, as well as access to dedicated growing areas, greenhouses, tools, a community orchard and the brook which runs through the middle of the allotments.
The Association already has volunteers to run regular open community coffee mornings, talks and practical demonstrations and many of the livestock holders are looking at ways of incorporating animal husbandry demonstrations, while others have prepared the community greenhouses for the school visits.
The Association had raised £18,000 towards the hub and approached WEM for funding towards equipping it.
WEM is a resident-led community partnership working to help improve the West End area of Morecambe through tackling issues which affect the area and working with others to provide a voice for the local community.
For more information about WEM, visit www.westendmorecambe.co.uk
For more information about the West End and Heysham North Allotments visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/640973632705283/
