News Item

Cash boost for Litherland school garden

* Please note – The article below was released prior to South Sefton Development Trust changing its name to Regenerus

A Litherland school has become the first organisation to receive funding from a new south Sefton environmental grant scheme.

St Elizabeth’s Primary on Webster Street has been given £500 from South Sefton Development Trust’s new Ace Fund to develop a new school garden.

From now on the Ace Fund will provide a similar amount each month to a project in the South Sefton Development Trust’s core operating area of Bootle, Litherland, Seaforth and Netherton.

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 ‘green’ project.

The fund guidelines have been left deliberately broad to encourage as many groups to apply as possible by completing a simple online form.

St Elizabeth’s, the recipients of the first grant, will use the money for top soil and other materials needed to create the school’s new garden, which will include a copse with 30 young trees donated by the National Trust.

The garden will also feature a vegetable patch and an area for plants and flowers with raised beds and planters.

Governor Cathie McDonald commented: “Everyone is very excited about the new garden, especially the children who have been closely involved in making all the key decisions about the project.

“We’re very grateful for the Ace Fund grant which will be really useful in helping us to create an attractive and peaceful resource for the whole school community to use.”

South Sefton Development Trust Ace Fund Co-ordinator, Eve Money, visited St Elizabeth’s to hand over the grant and learn more about the project.

She said: “This new school garden is exactly the type of project that the Ace Fund was set up to support.

“The scheme is all about fostering community spirit and generating pride in our neighbourhoods and we believe that, over time, all the small-scale projects that the Ace Fund will support will add up to a big difference to life in south Sefton.”

Mrs Money added that the Ace Fund has been established because, as part of its constitution, any surplus income which the Development Trust generates has to be ploughed  back into regeneration projects in south Sefton.

“  For more information about the Ace Fund and an application form visit  www.ssdtrust.co.uk.