MEDIA RELEASE
Issued: 16 July 2020

Shipley Eco-Action Group celebrates after receiving funding from the Severn Trent Community Fund

Local community group, Shipley Eco-Action Group (SEAG), is today celebrating after being awarded £6,243.00 from the Severn Trent Community Fund to support its Shipley Woodside Community Garden project at Hassock Lane South in Shipley, Derbyshire, close to Shipley Country Park.  The funds will be used to create a large wildlife pond, erect a barn structure, the purchase of a recycled plastic bench seat, tool shed and a solar powered submersible water pump and 4 IBC’s so that ground and rainwater can be collected.

SEAG has been running for just over a year and was founded by neighbours Bess Saunders and Kay and Graham Kearton after they realised they shared a passion for sustainable living, the environment and permaculture. SEAG soon had more members following a successful open day, at which the neighbours opened their homes and  focused on promoting community networks, recycling and re-thinking how we can lead sustainable lifestyles, the open day was supported by the Woodland Trust, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, organic producers Weleda and The British Lung Foundation.

SEAG acquired a 7.5 year rolling lease from Shipley Parish Council to work on the 1.5 acre disused field and established Shipley Woodside Community Garden in September 2019.  In less than a year SEAG members and volunteers have transformed the field into a beautiful and productive Community Garden.  The Garden is currently open to visitors and volunteers every Saturday 10 am-1 pm and every Wednesday 1 pm-4 pm.

The new funding from the Severn Trent Community Fund which awards grant money to improve the three elements of community wellbeing – people, places and environment, means that the addition of the large wildlife pond, will quickly attract wildlife, promote biodiversity and allow fun educational events such as pond dipping. The barn structure will provide valuable shelter especially during the colder and wetter days and also mean SEAG can press ahead with its plans of offering educational talks to the community on sustainable living practices and the value of nature, whilst also providing a safe space in a natural environment for people to come together.

Lynsey Beaumont, SEAG member says: “We’re delighted that the Severn Trent Community Fund has recognised our work in this way. We’re thankful to the Severn Trent Customer Panel for selecting us for funding so that we will be able to press on with our plans to develop the Community Garden.  The support from the community thus far has been fantastic and we are excited to be able to progress with the plans to add the wildlife pond and structure for the community to enjoy.”

Councillor Keith Stevenson and Chairman of Shipley Parish Council says this about the Community Garden: “It has to be amongst one of the best things that has ever happened in this area, and it has proven to be successful in attracting people, not only from the local area, but also from across the UK, as it has come to the attention of other similar groups that want to learn and share  similar experiences of organising this type of project.”

Find out more at www.seag.uk

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For further information contact lynsey@seag.uk

Severn Trent is giving away £10 million over the next five years through its Community Fund to support local projects, charities and community groups in the Severn Trent region – helping to make a real and tangible difference to the wellbeing in our communities. The Community Fund is overseen by an independent panel, made up of Severn Trent customers, who review applications and make the final decisions on where the money will go.

The Severn Trent Community Fund looks to support projects that aim to improve community wellbeing, focusing on three elements:

• People: projects that help people to lead a healthier life and gain new skills

• Places: projects that help to create better places to live in and use

• Environment: projects that will help look after our natural environment, give people greater access to that environment or help look after water.

More can be found out on their website stwater.co.uk/communityfund

Thanks to Mike Paszkowski at Bridge Drone Photography we can now bring you a tour by drone of Shipley Woodside Community Garden.

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We have more raised beds to build once we can safely collect the rest of the donated sleepers. There will also be a growing area specifically for the little ones.

The mound was really created by accident as the excess soil from the levelling of the ground for the polytunnel was put there and then grass sods seemed to keep being adding to it! This has already proven to be a hit with the kids, so we will let the grass grow on this and perhaps install a slide in the future!

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At the bottom of this picture you can see the working area, with the compost bins, shed, IBC’s and raised beds. Thanks to funding from Amber Valley Centre for Voluntary Services, we have been able to purchase a large polytunnel and this will be situated at the clearing on the right.

Beyond that is the sensory garden and what will be a large wildlife pond on the left, currently roughly marked out with hay bales.

Above the pond is a young hazel wood and then the forest garden area. Currently we have the canopy layer planted with many different fruit trees, the next stage is to plant the shrub layer such as currant and berry bushes. Then will come a herbaceous layer which consists of perennials and annuals such as herbs and rhubarb. Next will be the ground cover such as strawberries and clover. Once the fruit trees become more established, we will also be able to plant vines and climbers such as runner beans.

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The sensory garden has been our focus for the last couple of months and although not finished yet, we are so pleased with the progress. You can see the different sections of the garden which are planted differently such as touch, sight, sound and smell. We have used different textures for the various paths and at the centre is a weeping birch tree. This will have a seat around it and as this magnificent tree grows, it will form a beautiful focal point of the garden.

Thanks to funding from Amber Valley Centre for Voluntary Services we have been able to lay the main wheelchair accessible path from the entrance to the sensory garden. The path goes around the weeping birch and will continue on up to the social area and wildflower area.

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This area shows the start of the natural play area for children, we have a small pond ready for planting and a bug hotel. There are lots of exciting ideas to add to this such as a barefoot walk, music station and stepping stones.

The area above has been cleared for a barn structure and we have a couple of seats and benches in place. Also just out of shot on the right, is the compost toilet, which is currently a work in progress!

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The wild flower meadow at the top of the garden showing off our volunteer Karl’s creative mowing skills!

You can see the young hedgerow whips planted with the assistance of children from Mapperley Primary School, which will create a wildlife corridor and the willow arch, planted by volunteers and with the help of Kate Lemon from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.

The wildflower meadow is a longer-term project and will take some time to establish. So far we have lifted the turf, scarified and sown seeds purchased from Naturescape on a small area at the top of the meadow, although it didn’t feel a small area when our volunteers where working on this! In August 2020 we will be completing a survey on this area to see what flowers have joined us and whether we need to over seed that area.

We plan on creating a butterfly bank as part of the meadow and are fortunate to have the benefit of a local expert to guide us on how best to go about this.

We hope you have enjoyed our tour! Why not come down and visit us or see how you can get involved here.