The National Lottery Community Fund

Friday, 27 January 2023 17:37

RainbowBiz CIC, in Deeside, has been awarded a £10,000 grant by The National Lottery Community Fund for their Digging Deeside Project.

The fund will help the group deliver a large scale organic growing project, actively involving community groups, organisations, and colleges.

The project will allow participants to learn new skills in a safe and social space, engaging with their local community.

Ian Forrester, project facilitator director at RainbowBiz CIC, said:
"Each week, it is humbling to witness the people we support gain confidence, learn new skills, make strong friendships and see them feeling proud to be part of their local community.

"It is with thanks to the National Lottery and their players that we can fund our vital project – Digging Deeside – for another year

"We are delighted to be expanding upon current activities, offering more space, more regularity with improved facilities and of course reaching more members of the community."

RainbowBiz CIC in Deeside's £10,000 grant will help the group deliver a large scale organic growing project, actively involving community groups, organisations, and colleges. The project will allow participants to learn new skills in a safe and social space, engaging with their local community.

"We are delighted to be expanding upon current activities, offering more space, more regularity with improved facilities and of course reaching more members of the community."

The Digging Deeside project is situated at Mill Lane Allotments behind Shotton Job Centre in Queensferry. This weekly community gardening project offers basic gardening skills, life skills and the chance to make new friends. Most importantly the project offers a safe place to meet like-minded people. Project attendance is open to all adults, particularly historically isolated groups who may be living with long term physical or mental health barriers. College groups and organisations will be able to attend more regularly, bringing more people together, more frequently with better facilities to build stronger friendships, facilitate joint working, enabling beneficiary led learning while creating a safe, green space where people can achieve their best through learning new skills and meeting new people. Everyone who is interested in gardening, growing food, learning new skills and meeting new people will benefit.

The project focuses on opportunities for integration between the college's learners and our beneficiaries (from a variety of communities) together within one growing project. Historically these groups of people would not have the opportunity to learn new skills together and form friendships. The priority is to enable beneficiaries to fulfil their full potential, while improving the green spaces that matter to them. The college students will have the opportunity to meet some of the existing communities outside college life, preparing them for leaving full time education.

Rt Hon Lord Barry Jones PC said:
“What a magnificent achievement for RainbowBiz, an exciting success which indicates that this wonderful social enterprise is right at the forefront in terms of diversity and inclusion. As Patron I am full of admiration for the hard work the exceptional team does throughout the year.”

If you would like to find out more about RainbowBiz CIC please visit their website at:

www.RainbowBiz.org.uk.

If you would like to make a donation to the projects in material or monetary form please contact:

ian@rainbowbiz.org.uk

... or via PayPal on the website:

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/rainbowbiz

Pictured - RainbowBiz CIC Digging Deeside Group.