GROUNDWORKNews

Inside this edition:

Photograph: one of the younger participants at the John O’Gaunts ‘Summer of Activity’

Down on the farm

Green for Go in Kirklees

Summer activities

AUTUMN

2012

GROUNDWORK’s training and employment programmes have benefitted greatly over the years from a partnership with Swillington Organic Farm on the outskirts of south east Leeds. Special access to the farm has meant that groups of learners have been able to put into practice what they’ve learnt, particularly in the acres of woodland on the site, and both the location and activities have proved both popular and effective.

Alternative Curriculum Officer, Sven Whiteley-McLean, has long seen the potential to extend the programme of work, bringing additional benefits to both the learners and the farm itself. Earlier this year Sven and the learners began developing allotment plots, a polytunnel and an outdoor kitchen so the young people could learn about the full cycle of growing and cooking their own produce. There are plans to start a tree nursery and herb garden, and there is the potential to develop lots more on the site.

The beauty of this work is that the young people have the chance to be involved in a significant development from the word go, giving them a real sense of ownership and responsibility for the outcomes. They also get to spend time in the idyllic surroundings of Swillington Farm, and are learning new skills the whole time.

For more information about our Foundation Learning courses – or our work at Swillington Farm – please contact: Paula Hinsley - 0113 238 0601 / paula.hinsley@groundwork.org.uk

The Swillington effect

Welcome to our autumn newsletter!It’s always great to see a successful project adapted and replicated for different beneficiaries and locations, and that’s exactly what’s happened with Green for Go. GfG was highly successful when it ran in Leeds, engaging young people from all backgrounds and abilities in environmental volunteering activities. The same model is now being used in Kirklees with unemployed adults, with some great results already. In the same vein, the Green Doctor programme (originally adapted from a Groundwork Leicester and Leicestershire programme) is also finding new ways of working and different outlets for its service.

As ever, none of these project would run without the commitment of our many partners - not to mention our beneficiaries - so a huge thank you to them for the continued support and hard work.

Adrian Curtis - Executive Director

Green for Gofinds a new home in Kirklees

Our long-running and hugely popular Green for Go project has travelled a few miles down the M62 to help unemployed adults living in Kirklees.

The project, which originally worked with young volunteers in Leeds, is giving adults with a range of needs - such as disabilities and mental health problems - the opportunity to gain new skills, build confidence, and broaden their social circles by undertaking environmental tasks such as developing allotment plots, building planters, and carrying out community clean-ups.

The three-year project began in July and uses the Paddock Trust Community Allotments in Huddersfield as its base, and plans to branch out into Batley and Dewsbury as it progresses. The first cohort - many of whom had no previous gardening experience - have already transformed a number of allotment plots, tidied and improved community spaces in the local area, and built and installed planters and bird boxes. More importantly, individuals are already seeing positive results due to increased social interaction, team working, and being given the opportunity to take on new challenges.

To find out more about Green for Go – and to view photographs of some of the work undertaken so far – please visit www.greenforgokirklees.org.uk

We welcome interest from anyone who might want to take part, as well anyone with a potential project for the group to undertake.

Our well-known Green Doctor service is branching out into new territories. While continuing to offer their regular home energy assessment service across Leeds and Calderdale, the team is currently working in the Laisterdyke area of Bradford as part of the government’s Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) in partnership with npower and Sustain.

CESP targets households in areas of low income to improve energy efficiency standards and reduce fuel bills, and the Green Doctor team is tasked with undertaking initial household surveys of around 400 properties in the area. Households can potentially benefit from free external and internal wall insulation, cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, electric heating system replacement, G-rated boiler replacement, and draught proofing, which could save people up to a massive £475 a year on their heating costs. In Leeds meanwhile, Green Doctor is set to assist with the new Green Deal programme which starts in January 2013. The Green Deal helps people pay for home improvements such as insulation through savings on their energy bills and Leeds is one of seven cities across the country to kick-start the programme. Green Doctor will be playing its part by encouraging households to sign up.

For more information about Green Doctor – or any of the schemes mentioned above – please contact: Mat Roberts on 0113 238 0601 / mathew.roberts@groundwork.org.uk

The curriculum has well has escaped from the confines of the classroom at St Theresa’s Catholic Primary School in Crossgates.

Our schools and landscape construction teams have been working with the school over the last year to fund and build an outdoor classroom and polytunnel, and refurbish an existing pond. Our teams had previously designed an orienteering course in the grounds which has become a well used resource.

The new facilities – funded by a £10,000 Big Lottery grant - will form a hub for the school’s outdoor learning, bringing a range of curriculum areas to life through activities such as pond dipping and mini beast hunts. The polytunnel has already been used to grow a fine crop of pumpkins in time for Halloween!

Outdoor learningwith added pumpkins

Printed on 100% recycled paper

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Printed on 100% recycled paper

GROUNDWORK helps people and organisations make changes in order to create better neighbourhoods, to build skills and job prospects and to live and work in a greener way. We create projects and services that benefit both people and the wider environment.

GROUNDWORK Leeds operates across Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees and we work on hundreds of local projects each year. We focus our activity on disadvantaged communities where we can make most difference.

Groundwork Leeds, Environment & Business Centre, Merlyn-Rees Avenue, Morley, Leeds, LS27 9SL

Tel - 0113 238 0601 www.groundwork.org.uk/leeds

Yes, your friendly neighbourhood environmental charity has been hard at work in Leeds for a whole 25 years! To mark the occasion we’re looking back at a range of projects from the last quarter of a century in a special online retrospective. Amongst other things, you can find out how we began, plus see the incredible transformation of the old Rothwell Collieries into Rothwell Country Park. More past projects will be added throughout the year.

Visit: www.groundworkleeds25.org.uk

Summer fun at John O’GauntsOver one hundred residents from the John O’Gaunts estate in Rothwell took part in a series of events and activities over the summer aimed at getting people active in the community and improving their health and wellbeing. People of all ages took part in everything from planting days to sports events, and highlights included a special guest visit from Leeds Rhinos’ Ben Jones-Bishop. The programme culminated in a celebration trip to Bridlington. The series of events were made possible largely through funding from Marks & Spencer’s @myurbangreen initiative, the Big Lottery’s Local Food programme, and Aire Valley Homes.

New artwork on Chapeltown RoadA prominent stretch of wall on Chapeltown Road has been adorned with a series of colourful tiles, each of which reflects an aspect of Chapeltown’s rich history and vibrant culture, as well as highlighting local organisations and initiatives. They were designed by individuals and organisations from the Chapeltown area during a series of workshops run by local artist Sandra Whyles.

Meanwhile, the shutters at the front of the Leeds Reach building now feature silhouettes of inspirational figures, including Barack Obama, Adele, Sir Alan Sugar, Beyoncé and Lewis Hamilton. Local artist, Lucy Weston, created the mural with worked with local young people, who decided which famous faces should appear.

The wall and shutter art is a fantastic addition to the ‘Chapeltown Road Arts Corridor’ which is not only benefitting people living and working in Chapeltown, but also creating a colourful welcome for the thousands of people who travel up and down Chapeltown Road every day.

Tiles project was carried out by Groundwork, Leeds City Council and Leeds Housing Concern (Sojourner Scheme) and funded by the Big Lottery Awards for All programme and Leeds City Council. Shutters project formed part of our Turning the Corner intiative (also funded by the Big Lottery) and took place in partnership with Leeds Reach.

Seeing Spots (and Stripes)Groundwork’s work with Cadbury to bring their Spots v Stripes campaign to communities across the UK is now complete. To create the largest and longest running game ever, Cadbury invited the nation to divide into two teams, Spots v Stripes, to play all sorts of games in the run up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. Groundwork Leeds recruited 40 Games Ambassadors over the course of the project, who lugged their giant jenga and tug of war kit to 137 events across Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees, engaging a grand total of 6,177 individuals in Spots v Stripes games!

One of the final events was a high profile event at Millennium Square to raise awareness of disability sport locally and bring the Paralympic spirit to Leeds, featuring the fantastic Leeds Spiders wheelchair basketball team. A number of our Games Ambassadors were lucky enough to attend some of the Paralympic events as a thank you for their hard work.

News in Brief

@GroundworkLeeds www.facebook.com/GroundworkLeeds