2023 – A Year of Massive Achievements
We weren’t sure if we could beat the successes we had in 2022 with our Seeds of Hope campaign. But when we look back, we’ve been able to achieve even more in 2023. From major project launches through to a growth in how we’ve been able to work with local businesses, 2023 has been fantastic for Groundwork Northamptonshire. Here are some of our highlights as we reflect on another incredible year.
The Big Launches
We have launched some major projects here this year.
Lottery Funding
At the start of the year we were awarded nearly £314,000 of lottery funding for a new project called ‘Come Together @ Green Patch’. This three-year project is there to support more than 300 young people, recruit 300 new volunteers and develop a trio of new community green spaces in Northamptonshire.
We have already recruited two new team members with this funding. Ella, our new Volunteer Engagement Officer and Alice is our new Youth Engagement Officer.
Green Doctors
The Green Doctors scheme offers in person and telephone energy efficiency advice to make homes more energy efficient. Launched for households in Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough and the wider north Northants, our Green Doctors also fund the installation of energy efficiency measures, signpost people to debt relief organisations and help people apply for government grants.
If you need any help this winter, please don’t hesitate to contact our Green Doctors to see how they can help.
Grow, Cook, Eat
Our Grow, Cook, Eat project works with the local community. We share tips on how to plant and grow your own fruit and vegetables, we share recipes and techniques for cooking up delicious meals that won’t break the bank, and we offer insight into just why eating new and fresh foods is so vital for us.
Freyja, who runs the project, has hosted several events this year and has already worked with a great number of local people.
One of the biggest parts of the Grow, Cook, Eat project is the grants scheme. A pot of funding is open for community driven projects with a focus on growing, cooking and eating, and local businesses or organisations have been invited to apply for grants of £300 up to £5,000. This is already making a massive difference. To find out more and apply, please visit our Grow, Cook, Eat website page.
Celebrating Green Patch
In June we launched a new campaign to celebrate Green Patch. We wanted to raise awareness of the community green space, and to help attract even more visitors, volunteers and supporters. Green Patch has grown into a thriving and essential community asset, and it makes a difference to the lives of hundreds of local people every week.
As part of this campaign, we created a video, we shared the stories of local people who attend Green Patch and we shone a light on the many great things that Green Patch does for its community.
Award Winning
Just last month, Green Patch was crowned ‘Community Project of the Year’ at the NBEA 2023 awards, delivered by All Things Business UK. We were thrilled that the work the team does at Green Patch was acknowledged in this way.
Groundwork Northants was also a runner up in the Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce 2023 Business Awards for Charity of the Year.
Youth Work
Every year at Groundwork we do a lot of work with young people of all ages, and this year has been no exception.
In the Summer, we held our special festival at Green Patch, called Patch Fest. Aimed at 11 to 18 year olds, the event was just like a festival. With more than 50 local young people attending, they enjoyed candy floss, glitter face paints, snacks and other fun activities.
We also had another successful year of our much-needed Holiday Rangers project, which is proudly run in partnership with KCU as part of their wider Lottery funded programme. Over the year, children have attended sessions at Green Patch during every school holiday. They’ve created recipes and cooked meals, and they’ve been able to return home with a food and equipment hamper that allows them to replicate the meals with their families, giving them great skills they can be proud of.
Finally, after three amazing years, the hugely successful Green Influencers project, funded by the Ernest Cook Trust, came to an end earlier this year. Through this project, we managed to work with hundreds of local young people, helping them to learn more about nature – from bat walks to gardening to decorating wood flowers.
Summer of Fun
Over the Summer, Freyja (who runs our Grow, Cook, Eat project) took out our new smoothie bike and attended a series of events across Northamptonshire, meeting local people. We supported Kettering By The Sea, in partnership with Kettering Town Council, where Freyja made around 150 smoothies each day, and our smoothie bike also took a trip to Kettfest.
In addition to that, Freyja also attended the Active Family Fun Days in Rushden, Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough, in partnership with North Northants Council. There were more than 500 attendees at each location, and as part of the activities, Freyja showed local people how to make DIY seed bombs. Around 1kg of wildflower seeds was used across these particular events, helping to give back to nature as well as being fun.
Corporate Volunteering
While we have always worked with local businesses to some degree, this year we have been able to increase our relationships and more businesses than ever have been helping us across a range of our projects. From some of the biggest brands in the area through to smaller, local businesses, we have been thrilled to welcome so many of you and your help has been gratefully appreciated.
Wellbeing at St Crispin’s
After the success we saw at Racecourse Park and Delapre Abbey in 2022, we were delighted to get involved with another new and very exciting project in collaboration with SEGRO as part of its Community Investment Plan in Northampton. We helped to build a wildlife and wellbeing garden space at the St Crispin Community Centre, managed by Community Spaces Northampton.
The multipurpose space is designed to be accessible for all. At the centre of the design is a large circular lawn with perimeter pathway, and there are now archways, seating and planting to inspire all the senses. Alongside that, heritage fruit trees have also been planted, as well as an earthen bank for pollinator-friendly wildflower seed mix.
We have had so much help on this project from local businesses and local community centre users, including the Northants football club youth education centre students. The grand opening took place on 13th December.
For any information on any of our projects or how you could get involved with Groundwork Northamptonshire, please get in touch.