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From left; Alison Canavan Wellness Coach, Theresa Emumelu (TIRC), Karen O’Donohoe GIY,
Kathleen O’Connor and Amy O’Shaughnessy from Energia, at the presentation of the Energia Get Ireland Growing Fund celebration.
THREE Tralee-based groups will benefit from funding as part of the Get Ireland Growing Fund run by GIY (Grow It Yourself) in partnership with Energia.
There are 85 winners of the grants nationally from a fund of €70,000. Rath Oraigh Childcare (€500), TIRC Women Group (€1,000) and Recovery Haven (€2,000) in Tralee will benefit. Glencar Community Care Garden (€1,000) is the only other Kerry recipient.
Grants will be awarded to the successful food growing projects planned by community groups, schools and not-for-profit organisations all across the country.
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The teams behind 85 community projects are all being granted with funds for their unique plans.
From left, Alison Canavan Wellness Coach, Kenneth Reynolds (Recovery Haven), Karen O’Donohoe GIY and Amy O’Shaughnessy from Energia at the presentation of the Energia Get Ireland Growing Fund celebration.
The Recovery Haven – Organic Fruit and Veg Garden Club, the team behind the Recovery Haven Kerry Cancer Support house provide free cancer support services to the people of Kerry.
At Rathoraigh Childcare, the team there says; “The children in our centre would like to grow vegetables and fruit at a nearby allotment, with the intention of making jams and soups, giving the children knowledge of healthy food that can be produced by the child’s hands. This project will have a knock on effect on the community, as Rathoraigh is a built up area, where people with many different cultural background live with little green space. Parents will be encourage to participate and share knowledge in the planting and harvesting of the vegetables and berries with their children follow by a jam and soup making workshop at our centre.”
A funding award goes to the TIRC Women Group. The team there says,; “Our project is TIRC Women Group that offers women from the asylum seekers, refugees and migrants a safe place to meet, integrate with other locals. The gardening project would give these women to learn gardening skills to grow their plants and vegetables. They have been given an allotment space in a Community Garden. We also want to transform the courtyard of the Centre into a more relaxed family friendly space by growing plants, shrubs for the boxes and making raise bed for the plants. Increase participant’s knowledge and understanding of how to grow vegetable and plants in Ireland and create a relax space families specially asylum seeker families.”
In Kerry a funding award goes to the Glencar Community Care Garden. The team there says, “Glencar is the 2nd most disadvantaged area in County Kerry (Source: SKDP), evidenced by the fact that our community experiences a severe lack of local amenities. Our Community Group would love to establish a poly-tunnel filled with nutritious fruit and veg to both provide a base for much-needed social and educational interaction between groups in our disadvantaged rural community, and to improve the quality of the warm meals that we provide to our elderly through our Meals on Wheels Scheme.”
In addition to the funding provided, GIY will also provide additional supports and opportunities for knowledge exchange between the projects, helping the best ideas to be shared through ‘Energia Get Ireland Growing’.
All of the projects remain part of the GIY network in the long term, giving them access to other GIY resources and additional groups and projects within the network, creating a long-term legacy.
