Blooming Britannia awarded grant

Royal Horticultural Society Community Environment Grant awarded to Bury in Bloom Project

Working closely with a community housing group that offers ‘supported and move-on’ emergency accommodation for men and women in Bury St Edmunds, Bury in Bloom have secured RHS funding for a project called Blooming Britannia.

Britannia House provide emergency ‘move-on’ accommodation for men and women, taking back control of their lives as they regain their confidence and wellbeing often following physical or mental abuse.

The service is run by Home Group, one of the UK’s largest housing associations. Home Group’s ‘Blooming Britannia’ project plans to raise awareness among its customers on new habits that bring about positive, long-term changes to the immediate environment. They plan to show customers how to live a more sustainable way of life, hoping they will replicate the new skills as they begin new lives in their new neighborhoods. They see the opportunity to create a wave of changes throughout Suffolk.

David Irvine Coordinator of Bury in Bloom said ‘We are thrilled to receive the award for Blooming Britannia – it’s a great sustainability project that fits in very well with the new RHS initiative. We look forward to working with Britannia House on the project that has the potential to bring big environmental gains in the community as well as helping people going through tough times.

Starting with nothing more than a concrete yard surrounded by brickwork and a few old sheds the project will install a rainwater harvesting scheme that will supply the needs of the new bio-diverse green space with vertical living walls, a wildflower meadow roof space, container grown orchard and a small, raised vegetable bed. The 3-story building will have hanging baskets and boxes providing flowers, berries, and wildlife shelter.

The Britannia house coordinator Anna Pena said, ‘This is a fantastic opportunity to give our customers the confidence to grow their own food and live sustainably. They’ll see that this is something they can accomplish even if they only have a small space they can make a difference, and we hope they will take those skill with them as they leave us. When I imagine walking down St. Johns Street and seeing Britannia House Blooming with flowers it excites me to think how it will brighten our neighborhood & be a beacon for local wildlife,’ said Anna.

The Homegroup Ltd. CSM for Britannia House, Janet Wood Says: “This project will help to reduce isolation and improve our customer’s social networks, help to develop new skills around gardening and the environment. They will be able to take these skills with them into the community and contribute to green spaces within their local neighborhoods”.

The RHS Community Environment Fund will support the costs for equipment, materials and activity costs including contractors and training costs.

Bury in Bloom will offer advice, assistance and support as the project must be in place and operating by the end of 2022.


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