Supporting community groups and projects

A group of tenants from Cottingley Court, in Leeds, were successful in securing £500 to help them set up their new gardening group.

The project will provide a garden area to grow food, plants and flowers.  The group believes that spending time outdoors, working together will help develop a sense of community and improve their health and wellbeing.

The funding has been used to purchase garden tools, supplies and a greenhouse. The group had already successfully got compost, seeds, plants and some equipment from other organisations as well as receiving donations to support their project.

The Cottingley Court Garden Group hope to collaborate with a similar local group at Ilford Street, sharing ideas, plants, ingredients and meals together.

In April, as part of their Social Value commitment, our repairs contractor Bell Group joined forces with the Cottingley Court teams to put up the greenhouse. It was a long, wet and windy day but the greenhouse looks great and the gardening group are already putting it to good use.

Ilford Street gardening group

With Ilford Street’s gardening group going from strength to strength, group representatives Neil and Rachel asked if we could support them to turn a small corner of their lounge into a kitchenette.

The group enjoy cooking meals to share together, often using home grown produce. They told us that kitchenette would enable them to host social events and activities without having to use someone’s flat. It’s also much safer, having tea making facilities close by.

Repairs contractor Morgan Sindall was able to source all the necessary items free of charge from its suppliers under Social Value. The team also fitted the new kitchen area, at no cost to the tenants.

Ilford Street tenants and support staff are a great example of a group who explore opportunities and take advantage of all the funding available to them. They also received a grant from Morley Town Council, which funded the greenhouse (kindly installed by Morgan Sindall, also through Social Value).

If you are a community group and are interested in finding out more about the Community Support Grant or Social Value, then please contact the Customer Voice Team by sending an email to community@progressgroup.org.uk