Communities

Groundwork works with community groups to help them to make changes to local places, to improve their environmental awareness or to help them engage with local decision making.

Often where we work depends on funding opportunities and our organisational capacity, but it is always worth contacting us  to see what we can do in your area.

Work we carry out includes things like:

  • Improving community spaces such as creating community gardens, improving parks and play areas, or transforming derelict land in to usable green spaces.
  • Providing activities for young people, such as sports, practical conservation volunteering or multi-media projects.
  • Supporting local environmental campaigns, such as increasing recycling rates or Streets In Bloom competitions.
  • Providing training for people who want to learn more about gardening and horticultural skills such as food growing, within their communities.
  • Helping communities to set up healthy living projects and activities, such as walking schemes, community sports programmes or food growing in tubs and window boxes.

Nationally, Groundwork manages the lottery funded Community Spaces grant programme, which helps people to improve local spaces. For more information on those grants see www.community-spaces.org.uk

Groundwork South West has considerable experience of supporting community and voluntary sector organisations to build their own skills and capacity to deliver their own projects, run social enterprises or do fundraising.

Pilgrim Pitch at Saltmill Park

Location: Saltash, Cornwall The creation of Saltmill Park in Saltash, Cornwall, has seen the total transformation and regeneration of a 17 acre, ex-landfill site, which neighbours a large social housing estate, into a multi-purpose community sports and recreation facility.

Purist Natural Beauty

Location: Torbay In January 2008 Groundwork ran a 4 month pilot programme, working with local residents from the Foxhole area in Torbay to produce and trial a range of natural hand made soap and body products with the aim of developing a business model for a social enterprise.

Trenance Valley (Conservation Volunteers)

Location: Newquay, Cornwall Groundwork’s landscape architect designed the ‘Trenance Valley Action Park’ with input from pupils from nearby Treviglas School. The final design for the park contains a range of exciting and challenging equipment.