A school gardening club has been given a lifeline thanks to a £2,000 grant.
The support comes from the Wessex Water Environment Fund, managed by Dorset Community Foundation, which awarded the funding to West Moors-based education charity DEED to continue running its after-school gardening club at Wimborne First School.
The club, which benefits more than 20 Year 3 and 4 pupils along with their families, teaches children how to prepare soil, sow seeds, and grow food and plants that support pollinators and promote biodiversity.
Sarah Wise, sustainability lead at DEED, said: “I’m so delighted because what was going to be really difficult was to actually not carry any of this on.
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Youngsters hard at work in the garden at Wimborne First School, where a £2,000 grant will help keep its nature club running (Image: Dorset Community Foundation)
“Now I can go back to the school and say we are able to carry on.
“I know the kids want it, I know that two staff members are happy to support it, so I’m really excited about that.”
Ms Wise said the club has helped children form a closer connection to nature and better understand where food comes from.
She said: “One of the pupils wrote me a little note and said ‘thank you so much, this has been the best club ever and I’ve learned some new skills’ and another told me ‘I’ve really enjoyed this, I’ve learnt so much and tried new foods’.
“Some of the children had never eaten carrots or didn’t even know what a mangetout looked like.
“One of the nicest things has been watching the children exploring a part of the school grounds they’d never been to and seeing them connect with it.”
The grant will also cover the cost of installing guttering, water butts, drought-resistant plants, and watering cans to help the school conserve water.
DEED’s project is one of nine across Dorset to receive a share of more than £16,000 in funding from the Wessex Water Environment Fund, which supports community projects that protect and improve the environment or boost local biodiversity.
Other schemes to benefit include rainwater harvesting and composting systems, nappy banks, litter picking, and coastal conservation activities.
A £1,400 grant to Dorchester-based Loving By Nature CIC will help support its Dorset Cloth Nappy Library, which last year provided 45 starter kits to families.
Nigerian Community in Dorset is using a £2,000 grant for community litter picking and work to protect green spaces (Image: Dorset Community Foundation)
The Nigerian Community in Dorset in Bournemouth received £2,000 to deliver community litter picking activities and environmental education workshops focused on recycling, water conservation, and sustainable living.
For more information about the Dorset Community Foundation, visit its website.
