The ACT Government has awarded over $40,000 in grant funding to five community organisations through Round 11 of the Community Garden Grants program.
The program, now in its eleventh year, is designed to support the delivery of community gardens across Canberra to enhance community places and spaces.
Since 2015, there has been over $470,000 in funding provided by the ACT Government to 99 projects across the city. This has provided hundreds of Canberrans with the opportunity to learn, share and connect at their local community garden.
Minister for Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Water Suzanne Orr said that community gardens in the ACT deliver benefits to people involved in the gardens as well as the broader Canberra community.
"Community gardens have a special place in the urban fabric of Canberra, with hidden gems like Indigenous food style gardens, urban gardens and micro-forests to be found throughout our city," Minister Orr said.
"Some of the many benefits these gardens bring to communities include providing a place to grow fresh and healthy food, improving wellbeing through social connection, and helping us all to understand the importance of sustainable living and food security.
"For many individuals, these gardens are more than a place to grow food though. They provide opportunities for social interaction and physical activity and a place to connect with nature. They're also helping the broader community by supporting pollinators and reducing the urban heat island effect.
"This year's projects include native, sensory and food gardens, and even a garden for cultivating plants that can be made into fibres and dyes for making textiles, showing just how many and diverse the benefits of gardens are."
The recipients of Round 11 of the Community Garden Grants are:
- Rotary Club of Canberra Sundowners: enhance an existing community garden, install new wicking beds, improve water access and improve the accessibility of the garden beds - $8,850.
- Northside Community Service: improve the community garden at Treehouse in the Park Early Learning Centre and Majura Community Centre in partnership to increase food production and establish native sensory spaces - $7,057.
- Canberra Spinners & Weavers Inc: grow plants to produce natural dyes and fibres traditionally used in textile production for community workshops and individual projects - $8,200.
- Canberra Seed Savers Cooperative: create a seed garden to promote food production in local communities using circular economy and zero emission principles - $9,585.
- Forest School P&C: create a Serpent Sanctuary Garden in collaboration with their indigenous education officer - $7,500.
"If there's a community garden in your area, I encourage you to check it out, learn how you can get involved, or even consider ways that you can create your own garden," Minister Orr said.
