News Item

Ace Fund grant for Waterloo pond planting project

An ambitious project to create a major new flower bed in a disused pond in Waterloo is the latest recipient of funding from a south Sefton environmental grant scheme.

The Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens have received £700 from the Regenerus Ace Fund to transform the ornamental pond in Crescent Garden with a mix of shrubs, plants and herbs.

The pond was the spectacular centrepiece of the garden when it was created in the 1930s, but in recent years it has become difficult to maintain and an eyesore.

Now the Friends, working with Sefton Council Parks and Green Spaces Department, are giving it an exciting new look with almost 200 new plants, chosen to ensure that the new bed is interesting throughout the year.

Karen Abram, who is co-ordinating the project for the Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens, commented: “We’re very grateful to Regenerus for this funding which will help to make a big difference to an area of the gardens that had become rather run down.

“Our aim has been to create an attractive, easy to maintain new feature that will benefit both the local community and the many visitors who come to our area to see Sir Antony Gormley’s Another Place sculptures.”

Regenerus Ace Fund Co-ordinator, Eve Money, said: “We’re delighted to be able to fund this project which is exactly the type of scheme that our fund was set up to support.

“The volunteers from the Friends have done a great job in coming up with a sustainable new use for an old, disused feature and I very much look forward to seeing the full results of their efforts later in the year.”

Sefton Council Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, Cllr Ian Moncur, added: “I am delighted that this new flower bed will bring back to life what once a fantastic feature of the gardens.

“I would like to express my thanks to Regenerus for funding the project and also the Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens for their continuing hard work to ensure our parks are beautiful places to visit.”

The Regenerus Ace Fund provides a grant of up to £700 each month to a project that will help to improve life in the organisation’s core south Sefton operating area.

Applications from established community and voluntary organisations are welcome, but the Ace Fund is also open to informal groups of local residents joining forces to work on a one-off project.

For more information about future Ace Fund grant opportunities and an application form visit www.regenerus.org.uk or ring Regenerus on 0151-934 2637.

For more information about the Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens visit www.fowsg.co.uk.