A SCHOOL in Barry is to get £50,000 for a ground breaking community woodland project.
Oak Field Primary School is getting the grant as part of six projects to create a Wales-wide network of woodlands for local communities
The ‘Oak Field Community Woodland’ project has created a wildlife area and pond and is in the process of establishing a community allotment.
There is approximately one acre of overgrown land around this area and this project will see school pupils, the local community and experts working together to develop an urban woodland on it.
Pupils and the local nature partnership will collaborate on designing the woodland to make it accessible to everyone and more mature trees and saplings will be planted.
The children’s ideas will be used to establish areas to play and learn and also hedgerows to create new habitats for wildlife.
(The school won £50,000 of grant funding)
The money has come from The Woodland Investment Grant (TWIG) – part of the Welsh Government’s National Forest programme.
The grant programme is run by The National Lottery Heritage Fund which works to create, restore and enhance woodlands in Wales.
Minister for climate change Julie James said she was delighted to see how the money was being spent.
“It’s been lovely to see the range of applicants awarded grants in the first round of The Woodland Investment Grant – from a new woodland in a school in Barry to the restoration of a degraded woodland on the Llŷn Peninsula,” said the minister.
“With more funding rounds to go, we want more people to come forward and apply for funding so they can grow beautiful outdoor spaces for their local community.”
Welcoming the grant announcements, Andrew White, director of The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales, said the money was going to a great cause.
“Funding natural heritage projects which help tackle the effects of climate change and support nature’s recovery is a key priority for The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales,” said Mr White.
“The Woodland Investment Grant in partnership with the Welsh Government is just one of the ways that we are meeting this objective.”
The TWIG programme was launched by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in June 2022 and it provides grants of £40,000 to £250,000.
This is the first round of five over the next couple of years. Round 3 closes to expressions of interest on 16 February.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here