A ROOFTOP community garden in Warrington has been awarded £6,000 as part of a new urban scheme to bring people closer to nature.
Culture Warrington’s Sky Garden, in partnership with Golden Square, has been named one of 100 new community nature projects as part of The Nature Hubs Fund.
Designed as a living addition to Warrington Museum’s natural history offer for educational and environmental projects, Sky Garden was launched in the summer of 2022.
The initial aim was to make the town centre a more biodiverse place and show people what can be achieved with even the smallest green space.
Since then, the Sky Garden has also provided food for the community at the likes of its Harvest Festival and was the inspiration for the launch of the green-fingered networking group, ‘Warrington Community Gardens’.
The £6,000 grant from The Nature Hubs Fund will help the Sky Garden team take the project to the next level.
Some of the priorities include RHS garden training for the volunteer team, hosting sustainability themed workshops and buying a weather station to track the effects of climate change in Warrington over time.
It will also be spent on practical things like tables, outdoor seating for events and garden signage. The Nature Hubs Fund has been set up to support projects that “bring nature closer to people and people closer to nature”. It is led by environmental charity Hubbub and global coffeehouse chain Starbucks.
Amanda Moore, education and sustainability officer for Culture Warrington, said: “I applied for the funding in February and didn’t think we’d get it as Hubbub said the applications were so strong this year.
“We then heard that Starbucks wanted to fund 100 projects and we were one of them! I was over the moon to hear our Sky Garden had been successful.
“I think it’s a great project that grows food for the community, brings a bit of green space for wildlife right into town and also gives us opportunity for working with different community groups up there.”
Kim Moate, support services manager at Golden Square, added: “Being chosen to receive this money from the Nature Hubs Fund has been an incredible boost to our Sky Garden. We believe that Golden Square is at the heart of the community in Warrington, so having this cash injection to spend on enhancing our community project is fantastic.
“We always aimed for the Sky Garden to be an area for everyone to use and enjoy, and now that we can expand the space with a huge focus on biodiversity and sustainability means we can invest in its future
