Page 27 - NAS Members Guide to Funding

CASE STUDY: “Meeting funding criteria:
Firs Estate Allotments in Derby”
Taking care to read criteria thoroughly has brought £17,000 in grant funding to Firs Estate Allotments. “We’re a 6.5-acre oasis of 52 large plots in the heart of the Stockbrook area of Derby city, surrounded
xt few slides in the deck.
by Victorian terraces. Firs Estate is Derby’s oldest
allotment site and is privately owned by an ancient investment company who were responsible for building much of the surrounding housing and factories. The landlord relationship is very positive.” Using the local community foundation ‘funding route’, the association received the following funding:
• £15,000 from the Tom Carey Fund (local charity). Criteria:Tackle inequalities and disadvantages faced in local communities. Funded: Replacement of 1.2km of mud paths with hardstanding, so that site is accessible safely for wheelchair users. Included in this award was £7,000 to run a programme of activities - basic woodwork, foraging, composting, mushroom growing, herbalism - free at the point of access for the local community.
• £2,000 from The Tree Council. Criteria: Care for trees and our planet’s future. Funded: Reinstatement of lost hedgerows, creating 3km of wildlife habitat.
The allotment site shop (trading hut) was also brought back to life thanks to volunteer plotholders to help generate a sustainable income for the site. Thus, a clear idea and plan, the support of the landlord, using
a ‘funding route’ (see par t 4), and carefully reading funder’s criteria, led the association to the right funders at the right time.
FUNDING PROGRAMMES
Some funders chose to divide their money up into separate pots of money – these are called ‘funding programmes’ (sometimes called ‘funding themes’). Usually, a funder will allocate a set amount of money
Firs Estate
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