Communities across the North of England will benefit from a £1.2m funding boost to create Green Community Hubs – spaces where local people can use their interests and skills to support sustainable, community-led environmental action.
The exciting three-year project – funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK – is a collaboration of five Groundwork Trust’s covering the North of England and will create 30 new hubs in partnership with members of the local community, to create a vibrant network of community-led spaces.
Communities will be at the heart of the decision-making – sharing their ideas and aspirations for their local area to decide the activities that could be offered at the hubs, including volunteering opportunities, educational workshops, community gardening and wellbeing sessions, food growing and conservation projects. The hubs will utilise existing assets providing a broad range of services that build resilience and improve health outcomes in the local community.
Sam Marine, Project Manager said: “The pilot programme of the Northern Network enabled some fantastic community-led green activity, supporting nature’s recovery and providing support to voluntary sector organisations across the North. We are really excited to expand our work into more areas over the next three years.
Phil Chamberlain, England Director at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re proud to support the creation of Green Community Hubs. These community-led spaces will empower communities across the North of England to be environmentally sustainable, doing their bit to shape a healthier future for the planet.
The funding will ensure that continued development of the established Northern Network project – that ran from September 2022 to April 2024 – and saw the development of five hubs and over 170 people signed up to the network.
Between March 2023 and March 2024, Green Community Hubs held over 700 events with close to 11,000 local residents in attendance.
The programme also funded the ‘Green Leadership Academy’ in partnership with Natural England, to support and skills development for people working in the green sector, with seven people benefitting from peer support and guidance from experts on environmental, community, and business sustainability.
Find out more about the success of the Northern Network to date: https://www.northernnetwork.org/new-report-northern-network-publishes-phase-1-evaluation/
Find out more about the Northern Network: northernnetwork@groundwork.org.uk
