Member Article

LEAF: 10 years on and £1.6m later

The Local Environmental Action Fund (LEAF) at the Community Foundation has awarded over 200 grants totalling £1.6m since it was established 10 years ago. The environmental partnership has celebrated the landmark achievement through a special Environmental Challenge Award of £38,739 to the Comfrey Project. The award is being used to create a multicultural community garden for people seeking asylum and refugees in Gateshead.

As a collaborative funding pot, LEAF pools donations from local people, businesses, Trusts and Foundations to help people to deliver projects that tackle environmental issues in their local area. Celebrating 10 years of support, the Fund is seeking to attract further donations to the Fund to ensure environmental projects such as the Comfrey Project receive the support they need to thrive. Previous funder partners include the Shears Foundation, the Community Foundation, and Greggs Foundation, as well as individual and corporate donors such as Muckle LLP.

[Comfrey_GJmr-5264] The Comfrey Project works with people seeking asylum and refugees on allotment sites across Newcastle and Gateshead with the aim of improving their conditions of life and general wellbeing. The charity relocated to a new centre at Windmill Hills in Gateshead, and as a beneficiary of the Environmental Challenge Award, has transformed the site with a poly tunnel, raised flowerbeds, and a bee sanctuary.

Richard Shears, a donor and advisor to the Local Environmental Action Fund said,

“The Comfrey Project is focussed on alleviating the difficult circumstances of people seeking asylum in the area and is doing this in a way that has a lot of potential for the local community and the local environment.

“By helping people to grow and cook food, this not only teaches people seeking asylum new skills but helps to create stronger communities by improving wellbeing, and links to the local community which is what the Local Environmental Action Fund is all about.”

Yvonne Hartnett, the Manager at the Comfrey Project said:

“Thanks to LEAF our relocation to Windmill Hills has been very smooth and we’re ready for the new gardening season. Our poly tunnel is planted with a wide variety of beans, peas, courgettes and cucumbers, and an area to the rear of the site had also been planted up with circular beds surrounded by hay bales to help with the insulation and improve our soil conditions as the hay decays into a compostable mush.

“Our participants are beginning to enjoy the fruits of their labour. From plot to plate, we’re able to involve people seeking asylum and refugees in a journey that not only improves their health and wellbeing, but helps them to find fun and friendship and build links with members of the local community.”

[Comfrey_GJmr-5279] “Our project helps people build on existing skills and share experiences as well as developing new skills and learning about nature and the environment in the variable North East climate. Growing tomatoes is very different in Sri Lanka where “we just scatter the seed”, and it’s a great wellbeing tool to talk about the past and share methods which we can all learn from. Our cooks demonstrate a range of complex cooking techniques that are not always used in everyday home cooking today. We have teachers, farmers, gardeners, business people, beauty technicians, and tradesmen, all sharing their knowledge as well as working to help create our fantastic new garden.”

Richard Shears, is encouraging further donations to LEAF and adds:

“As a philanthropist, I give to LEAF because I believe strongly in the value of environmental action in our region. A great example of this is the staff, volunteers and participants at the Comfrey Project.

“Environmental philanthropy isn’t just about tackling environment issues; it’s a way to inspire action that addresses social issues too. Through LEAF we hope to build a culture of environmental giving that benefits our area now and for generations to come.”

Andrew Davison, Chair of the LEAF panel and a partner at Muckle LLP said:

“As a responsible business, Muckle LLP looked to reduce its impact on the environment and this was a major part in our decision to support LEAF. The Fund has built an expertise and knowledge base of what works, what doesn’t work and what has the greatest impact and is an excellent way for people and businesses to support environmental projects in our region.

“Not only does LEAF help us to support the local environment but it addresses social issues in the community such as health and wellbeing, fuel and food poverty, and access to green spaces.

“As Chair of the LEAF panel, I ask individuals and businesses to join us by making a contribution to the Fund which will continue to inspire environmental action and benefit our region for generations to come.”

To find out more about how you can support the Local Environmental Action Fund visit www.communityfoundation.org.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Adam Lopardo .