During National Allotments Week, Kent Community Foundation is highlighting their Amity Allotment Fund.
The Amity Allotment Fund, forms part of Kent Community Foundation’s environmental strategy and distributes grants of up to £7,500 to encourage the expansion of existing allotments or the creation of new sites throughout Kent.
Opened in March 2022, the Amity Allotment Fund awarded one of its first grants to Culmer’s Allotment Society Limited. Established in 2013 Culmer’s has a four-acre allotment, with 120 plots, near the centre of Broadstairs in Thanet. The Society applied for financial support to purchase a high-quality shredding machine for shrubs, plant stalks, large plants, and wood to avoid burning or sending the waste to landfill. They received a grant of £1,500.
Caroline Marais, Culmer’s Allotment Society Limited, said, “We applied for funding from Kent Community Foundation to purchase a shredder to use for shrubs, plant stalks, sweetcorn, brussel sprouts, large plants, and wood to avoid lighting bonfires or sending material to landfill. Our site has a very large boundary with bushes and small trees which require annual pollarding, generating a large amount of material what would previously have been burnt or taken to landfill. If just a quarter of us switched from dumping organic waste in landfill sites to composting it, we’d save the equivalent of 2.5m tonnes of CO2 from reaching the atmosphere each year. The new shredder will become a huge asset and will be widely used by the allotment holders.”
Natalie Smith, Director of Grants and Impact, Kent Community Foundation, said, “We know how important allotments are to bring communities together, preserve the environment and provide a fantastic area for wildlife. We were keen to support the Culmer’s application as their new shredder will reduce the amount of burning and reuse material as compost rather than sending it to landfill. The Amity Allotment Fund has also awarded grants to allotments in Sheppey for new boundary fencing, and in Ashford to cover the cost of the removal of asbestos rooves from two hundred sheds. If you know of an existing allotment in your area that needs funding, or you are interested in creating an allotment for your community we would love to hear from you.”
To apply to the Amity Allotment Fund, visit www.kentcf.org.uk/funding/amityallotmentfund
About National Allotments Week 8 -14 August 2022
National Allotments Week started in 2002 as a way of raising awareness of allotments and the role they play in helping people to live healthier lifestyles, grow their own food, develop friendships, and bolster communities.
www.nsalg.org.uk/news-events-campaigns/national-allotments-week
About the Amity Allotment Fund
The Fund distributes grants of up to £7,500 to cover start-up costs for new allotments or ongoing expenses for more established sites. Applications for funding are considered for legal, or insurance costs, site purchase or rent costs, as well as the purchase of seeds, plants, tools, sheds, benches, fencing, water tanks, or communal tools.
www.kentcf.org.uk/funding/amityallotmentfund
About Kent Community Foundation
Grant-maker Kent Community Foundation has been finding, funding, and supporting some of the smallest voluntary organisations in the county for twenty years. In this time, it has distributed over £50 million to support thousands of small charities and deserving causes where a modest sum of money can make a significant impact.
They are part of a UK wide accredited network of forty-seven Community Foundations who are committed to improving the lives of local people and communities, particularly the most vulnerable, isolated, and disadvantaged by matching those who want to help, with those who need the help.
Responsible for more than ninety philanthropic funds, Kent Community Foundation is unrivalled in its knowledge of local causes and assists individuals, families, and businesses, who want to help, to establish and administer their own charitable funds.
