From community gardens to sustainable coffee: Govanhill projects win funding for local research
Grassroots initiatives based in Govanhill have received over £10,000 in funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Williamson Trust to support local, sustainable solutions, from greener coffee choices to children’s nature play and urban gardening.
People’s Pantry team pose for pic after receiving the good news
By Devon McCole | Photos provided by The Royal Society of Edinburgh
It’s the Second year of Healthy Planet, Healthy People research grants by the Williamson Trust and Royal Society of Edinbururgh (RSE) and this year four Glasgow-based community projects have been awarded a total of more than £10,000 to promote healthy living.
Chair of the Williamson Trust, Professor David E Salt FRSE
Chair of the Williamson Trust, Professor David E Salt FRSE, said: “This year, we again have an amazing diversity of projects…Applications to the Healthy Planet, Healthy People Community-led Research Awards continue to grow, demonstrating the strong desire of communities in Scotland to develop local solutions to the ongoing global challenges to our environment, our communities and our food.
“The Trust hopes that these locally focused projects can find solutions to the challenges the local communities face and that these solutions can also have wider application."
This year, local organisation South Seeds will benefit from a share of the funding pot, along with the Rumpus Room’s Pollinator Pals project and the People’s Pantry, two projects which are also based in the Southside.
Community organisation, South Seeds, which works in partnership with residents and organisations within the Southside to help improve the area's appearance, has been awarded £1760 to find out where the most sustainable takeaway coffees are found. There are over 30 different independent takeaway coffee outlets within a one-kilometre square and a population of over 35,000 within a 20-minute walk of the area
South Seeds’ new project will enable locals to choose their morning cuppa based on not just convenience or taste, but sustainability.
Lucy Gillie, General Manager of South Seeds hopes this will change shopping habits, ideally having a knock-on effect which encourages the coffee shops themselves to operate more sustainably: “We want to enable local residents to understand the impact of their purchase decisions and ensure they can choose a product they are happy with."
View of South Seeds from local coffee shop across Victoria Road
South Seeds hope the matrix developed through their research can be adopted by other communities.
Meanwhile, the Pollinator Pals project aims to connect children (aged 6-12 years) living in a community situated in a socioeconomically deprived area of the city with nature, as well as fostering a sense of belonging. Based in the arts-led Rumpus Room community garden, the awarded grant of £5000 will bring together pollination ecologists, plant biologists and arts workers as part of the play-driven science and education project.
A spokesperson for The Rumpus Room team shared their elation at recieving the grant, which allows them to deliver the intiative and create a guide of Glasgow's pollinators for community gardens across the city: "We are excited by the spring sun to start our Pollinator Pals Project, a co-created civic arts-and-science project to improve nature connection and biodiversity in a Glaswegian urban garden."
Outside the arts-led Rumpus Room in Govanhill
The fourth project to receive funding in the Govanhill area is the People's Pantry, who are offering access to 43 raised beds outside their garden area to encourage residents to take part in weekly gardening sessions by harvesting fresh herbs and salad leaves. The award of £4000 will also be used to support future plans to co-design a printed Gardening Toolkit specific for urban growing in the area, which should aid some people amidst rising supermarket costs.
A spokesperson for the People’s Pantry said: "The project is changing the environment in the neighbourhood. The street is greener, cleaner and more peaceful. The benches are also great, bringing people together."
All in all it’s shaping up to be a busy summer this year with lots of financially-backed, eco and sustainability-focussed projects in the Southside.
RSE Vice President, Professor Anne Anderson OBE FRSE, commented: “The health of people and the environment are closely connected, and I hope that these awards will strengthen these innovative research groups and drive positive change in both areas. I look forward to following their progress and achievements over the coming year."