Page 53 - ALG Issue 4 2014 Digital Edition

Jim Tandy Award for Outstanding Achievement
Northampton
Allotment
Network
Northampton Allotment Network held their Annual presentation evening on Friday 17th October. The Plot competitions include four individual prizes for Adults and presentation for the best field in Northampton.
In addition there were two children’s competitions. For children aged 5-9 years the competition
was sponsored by “River Nene Regional Park” and for children aged 10-15 years the competition was sponsored by “UNISON”. The results were not available at the time of publication so watch this space. John Osborne
achievement over the last year.
The event was attended by the Mayor
of Chesterfield and several other local dignitaries. The Mayor of Chesterfield performed the opening ceremony for the new toilet and the new canteen. In the meantime we were entertained by a group of the children who have a plot on site and who sang nursery rhymes to everyone’s delight to start the proceedings.
Shirley Fleetwood
On behalf of John Carrington and the committee of Inkersall Allotments
Six years ago Inkersall Allotments had only five people working a plot with 32 unlet plots. John Carrington and his
fellow plot holders decided to try to
do something about it. They set about advertising the allotment site, inviting local people to come along and have a go. At that time there was very little in the way
of facilities. But that did not deter John and his fellow plot holders. They set up a committee with John acting as Secretary and Treasurer and progressed from there. They now have a full committee of Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and four other committee members. There are now only five plots still unlet.
The site has had an amazing year of advancement, including a local nursery school that has taken a plot to teach children aged three to five years old. They all go to the allotments at least twice a week and have been given a secure plot with fencing. There has been an increasing
The New
Nottingham
Federation
The New Nottingham Federation was started in November
2013, catering for the needs of Nottingham City Allotments. The first annual general meeting will take place on the 20th November 2014 at the Baseford Miners Welfare Club at 7.30 pm to which all Nottingham City allotment plot holders are invited. There will a buffet and hopefully a raffle to raise funds for the Federation. The guest speaker will be the NSALG President Mrs Karen Kenny. For further enquiries contact Shirley Fleetwood on 0115 952 6920 or John Kidger on 0115 974 7837. Shirley Fleetwood
Federation Treasurer
number of female plot holders, keen to have a go at growing organic vegetables and fruit. In view of the mix of plot holders the committee felt that certain facilities were needed e.g. toilets and a canteen to have food and shelter in inclement weather. However, all these new facilities needed planning permission from Chesterfield Borough Council and a Coal Authority report on subsidence for the area. Having obtained these, the next task was to
apply to the Big Lottery Awards for All
for a grant fund. We were successful in obtaining £10,000 and a further grant of £234 from Staveley Community Forum with the committee agreeing to pay the extra shortfall.
The toilet chosen was a Kazauba Loo KL2 composting toilet and was fitted in March 2014 and is now fully operational and much appreciated by all members. To get the canteen, applications were made
to the Open Gate Trust, who agreed to
pay £2,000 and to Derbyshire Community Foundation who agreed to pay £1,000. The canteen was installed in June 2014 and
is available to all plot holders and children for use. With the increase in membership, car parking space became a problem.
To solve this, an area was cleared (that continually floods and is impossible to cultivate). The committee are, at the present time, applying to get Council permission to make it available to accommodate twelve vehicles. Now, some cars have to park outside the allotments on a grass bank. This extra space will allow them to be inside the site and in a safer environment.
A Spring pond has been created that provides the site with natural water for all the allotments. Plans have been put in place for the planting of a tree coppice around it. This will be planted by young nursery children who work one of the plots. An application for more funding is being considered to build raised beds for the children and possibly a polytunnel. One of the members who has only had a plot for four years won third prize in the Chesterfield in Bloom Competition this year.
On the 20th June it was my very great pleasure to present the Jim Tandy award to John Carrington and his hard working committee of the site for the outstanding
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