Wirral communities to benefit from ‘green grants’ scheme
A total of 25 groups in Wirral are set to receive financial support to deliver events or projects that create or improve green spaces for the benefit of their communities.
They have all successfully bid for funding from the Community Green Grants Programme which is funded through the Liverpool City Region’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) allocation and managed by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
The aim of the funding is to help local groups create more biodiverse environments, provide health and wellbeing benefits and support community action on climate change through volunteering opportunities, as well as improving access to healthy food and strengthening communities by bringing people together.
More than £90,000 has been awarded across the successful 25 bidders, with amounts ranging from £540 to £15,000 to help groups deliver a range of ideas, initiatives and events that will make a difference where they live.
We know that the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries and we wanted to see applications to deliver projects that will help support the work we are doing as a council to improve local green space and biodiversity. The projects will also support the wellbeing of local communities and create local pride - particularly in areas where these aspects have been diminished.
The grants have been divided into ideas to deliver ‘green and blue infrastructure’ - which includes establishing physical things such as community or urban gardens, wildflower meadows or new ‘green corridors’ - or ‘social value and volunteering’, which can also be new or improved infrastructure, but with an emphasis on encouraging and engaging local people through workshops, events or volunteering opportunities.
The grant scheme has given local groups a fantastic chance to work together and bring their ideas to life in order to help make Wirral a more biodiverse and attractive place to live and thrive.
Wirral Council for Voluntary Service (Wirral CVS) were contracted to administer the UKSPF funds for the Green Grants programme. Wirral CVS is a member-led organisation which aims to support voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector organisations in Wirral and used its wealth of knowledge in voluntary sector to work with Wirral Council to award the grants.
A full list of the recipients is provided below:-
| Community Group | Project Description | Location | Amount Awarded |
| Green and Blue Infrastructure Improvements (Capital Only) | |||
| Brackenwood Infant School | Improvement project of public green space at the end of Holmway involving the school and the local community. Have already removed waste and cleaned the area. Now looking to add planters, hanging baskets, and trees. | Bebington | £1,000 |
| Poll Hill Community Orchard | Resident led project to develop a small community orchard with local heritage varieties of fruit trees. Includes information board, planting, bug hotels and seed exchange amongst others. | Heswall | £900 |
| Wallasey Community Anglers | Project cleaning the Central Park's Fishing Lake and Captains Pit. Use of eco-friendly dye and nutrients to make a more biodiverse and healthier ecosystem. | Wallasey | £1,500 |
| Hoylake Willows | Project to develop a rewilding area and wildlife garden in Sandringham Field which will provide biodiversity benefits whilst improving the green space for local residents. | Hoylake | £539.97 |
| Friends of Sandlea Gardens | Planting of bulbs and plants to provide seasonal interest and colour throughout the year. The plants chosen will flower again each year. | West Kirby | £1,000 |
| Manor Lane Allotments | Develop a community plot on the allotment, raised beds, a toilet facility and meeting space to improve the allotment and increase accessibility for disabled members. | Rock Ferry | £1,000 |
| Bromborough Village Community Association | Funding to buy resources for organising litter picks and weed control, deliver planting and creating an insect highway. | Bromborough | £1,500 |
| Love Bebington CIC | Funding for planting pollinator friendly flowerbed as part of the reopening of a community crazy golf course. | Bebington | £1,150 |
| St Luke's Methodist Church | Seeking to buy equipment for children and families attending St Luke's Forest Church so they can maintain the growing and green space of the Church. | Hoylake | £1,200 |
| Moreton Football Club | Money to undertake improvements to a multisport pitch at Lingham parks, as well as create a 5v5 pitch | Moreton | £2,500 |
| Social Action & Volunteering (Capital and Revenue) | |||
| Friends of Roman Road Sandhills | Clear area of fixed sand dunes and wooded dunes of invasive scrub and invasive suckering trees, and replace with local and ecologically beneficial local plants and vegetation. | Meols | £1,000 |
| Bidston Golf Club | PPE and equipment for eco-schools to deliver biodiversity improvements around the perimeter of the golf course, which is utilised as public green space by dog walkers and local residents. | Bidston | £1,000 |
| Wirral Wombles | Purchasing litter picking equipment for volunteers and delivering events to improve Wirral urban and green space. | Across Wirral | £600 |
| Wirral Joint Services Club | Building a peace garden for veterans. | £1,000 | |
| Positivitree | Funding to develop a community allotment that they have been gifted for use by their volunteers and service users. | Bidston | £4,970 |
| New Brighton in Bloom | Creating a green and floral planting across a range of sites: 1) ) a public garden, 2) 21 pots across New Brighton, and 3) develop a garden around the RNLI boat. | New Brighton | £3,000 |
| Friends of New Brighton Marine Lake | Rehabilitate the marine lake by studying the salinity and oxygen levels and improving the water quality, thereby enhancing biodiversity and open water swimming. Also purchasing a boat and PPE to support this. | New Brighton | £3,000 |
| Friends of Ashton Park | Maintaining the park, litter picks, planting flower beds, cleaning and painting furniture | West Kirby | £5,000 |
| Wirral Environmental Network | Running composting solution demos, food growing and healthy affordable food workshops | Wallasey | £1,690 |
| Park Roots CIC | Delivery of gardening and healthy food workshops, purchasing seeds, gardening tools and rainwater collection butts | Birkenhead | £3,510 |
| BEE Wirral CIC | Building a network of green and blue infrastructure corridors to be developed in coordination with volunteers, ecotherapy hub for volunteers, developing a wellbeing recipe book, and delivering wellbeing sessions | Birkenhead | £15,000 |
| Callister Trust | Internal decoration and finish of their pavilion, enabling them to put on volunteer workshops for improving green space all year round | Oxton | £11,200 |
| Develop Thru Sport CIC | Developing an active greenspace by building planters, natural play features and rainwater harvesting. Also fitness classes, community events and cooking sessions | Leasowe | £14,200 |
| Port Sunlight Village Trust | Grow - a community wellbeing project. 12 edible growing workshops, delivering high levels of engagement and new volunteering opportunities | Birkenhead and Port Sunlight | £6,825 |
| St Vincent De Paul's Society | Turning a derelict site into a community led garden and space to provide volunteering opportunities and wellbeing benefits. | Wallasey | £6,000 |
| Total | £90,285 |
