Topic: Funding

[keejaay]

Hi everyone

I took over as allotment sec a few months ago on a site that needed a lot of TLC to bring it up to a respectfull standard in doing my best with only help from you guys i applied for a large grant from my local council to obtain the nessessary materials etc for that purpose today i was given the news that we were awarded £ 50 - a real slap in the face for me as sec - what i need to know is how do you other sec and allotment holders fare with grant applications and how do i obtain them .

thanks

[RenishawPhil]

That is a real slap in the face

[Unwashed]

What's your situation keejaay?  Are you self-managed?  Is the site council owner, and are you renting the site from the council?  Can you set your own rents or do you have to charge what the council say?  How much money do you need, and for what?  What funds do you have in the association kitty?  How many on your site?

[keejaay]

We are self financing yet the council own the land apparently we pay a peppercorn rent on a roll on yearly lease via our federation .

when i took over the plots 12 in total were in the main not very good only 3 of us had cleared are own over the past 3 years the rest were overgrown and neglected .

thankfully the guys who had not done anything did not pay this years rent and so they were removed and i got 9 new guys on instead , all hard working and between us all we are getting the plots into shape .

The main problem that we have left is the enormous amount of buried rubbish that has cumilated over previous years and the neglect of surrounding fencing - that is the reason we need funding to help with the cost of getting people in to remove the stuff then securing the area from vandals .

As a small number funds are limited and our pockets are only so deep and at the moment what is a hobby is becoming a pain around my kneck , our federation guys are great but even they have limited funds available and that is why i turned to my local council for help .

cheers all

[manicscousers]

We got a 5,000 grant from the lottery for fencing 7 years ago. We also got a 6,000 lottery grant for a new communal greenhouse 3 years ago. It's worth considering. The forms aren't too difficult

[Unwashed]

How much money will each of the projects cost keejaay?  12 plots is a very small site - you have a lot of fence relative to the number of tenants - but how about planting a hedge yourselves?  If you were really keen you could even grow the hedging stock yourselves from seed, it would take several years to form an effective barrier, but it would cost very little.  Likewise with rubbish, it's a lot of work, but is it possible to clear the site yourselves by hand?  Disposing of the rubbish can be expensive, but if you sort it it is cheaper - metal you can sell, sorted hardcore is relatively cheap to dispose of because the carrier can re-use it.  You could potentially stick it in a great big pile in one place on the site then at least it wouldn't be in anyone's way.  Plastic waste could possibly be bagged up and taken away in cars a bit at a time.  Wood waste can be burnt.  Glass waste is a real nuisance (and I've had loads of buried glass in all four of the plots I've had - why do people do that?), but if you can collect it up and put in it crates and boxes it can be taken away in the boot of a car a bit at a time.

I agree that £50 from the council was derisory, but I think your job as site secretary is to rally your troops and organise them to help themselves.