Australian Greens: Local community gardens receive new grant funding

Fresh food for Yeddung Mura justice clients and their families and a little local farm to supply and share fresh vegetables to the Belconnen community are two of nine local projects that will be funded thanks to the ACT’s Community Garden Grants program.

“There is a patchwork of over one hundred community gardens nestled within suburbs throughout our city,” Minister for the Environment, Rebecca Vassarotti said. “Community gardens provide a local food source for our community, empower people to learn about gardening, support biodiversity, and help cool our city spaces.

“They also provide focal points where people can come together. The sense of belonging that comes from connecting with people in your neighbourhood can really enhance wellbeing, which is why community gardens are so important.

“The nine projects that have received a total of $41,145 funding in Round 8 of the Community Garden Grants program will no doubt foster new and continuing friendships as well as enhance our urban environments for many years to come. The diversity of projects that have received funding show that there is a huge spectrum of opportunities for Canberrans to get involved.

“The ACT Government is supporting local, small-scale agriculture and gardens to play a small but important part in improving our community resilience to food supply chain shocks resulting from climate change and other global events. These community gardens have an integral role to play as the ACT continues to develop its Food and Fibre Strategy.”

The recipients of this year’s Community Gardens grants are:

• St Vincent de Paul Society Canberra Goulburn Ltd: Good Works Garden – $7,140
• Downer Preschool Parent Association: Downer Preschool Community Garden Project – $2,255
• YWCA Canberra: Spence Community Garden – $2,228
• Hawker Community Landcare: Hawker Community Garden Stage 2 – $4,308
• Canberra Organic Growers Society Inc (Charnwood): Raised Garden Beds – $1,894
• Yeddung Mura (Goodpathways) Aboriginal Corporation: Yeddung Mura Community Reflective Vegetable Garden – $7,100
• Council on the Ageing ACT: Towards Zero Waste in Hughes – $7,742
• Margaret Hendry Parents and Citizens Committee Incorporated: Margaret Hendry School Community Garden – $6,398
• Holy Spirit Parish, Gungahlin: Holy Spirit Community Garden – Sharing Skills to Grow a Sustainable Future – $ 2,079

Learn more about the ACT Government’s Community Garden Grants program and this year’s recipients on the Everyday Climate Choices website.  

Quotes attributable to Teresa Rose, Convenor of Charnwood Community Garden:

“Over the past three decades, the Charnwood community have poured their efforts into nurturing our beautiful community garden. During that time, we’ve also experienced a changing climate, and in 2020 we received a Community Garden Grant to build a shelter in the garden to provide refuge from increasingly extreme weather events like heat waves and rain events. We’re really pleased with the shelter. It adds to the 45 individual plots, BBQ area, beehives, and a children’s area that make the garden such a welcoming space for our diverse community.”