RHS Community Grants awarded

We are supporting community groups and schools with the RHS Connected Communities and Sustainable Futures Grants, to help create new connections and address sustainability issues in local areas

More than 50 successful applicants

In October 2022, we launched the RHS Connected Communities Grant and RHS Sustainable Futures Grant to help our growing network of schools and community groups increase social connections and future-proof their projects to ensure longevity. We are pleased to announce that 51 applicants have been successful and will receive £2,500 each to kick-start their gardening journey or take an existing project to the next level.

Building new connections

Gardening is a great way to reach out and build new connections within a community, whether it’s promoting new volunteering and skill-sharing opportunities, creating spaces to socialise in or helping people discover their green fingers.

Projects supported by the RHS Connected Communities Grant include workshops for young people to showcase the range of opportunities in gardening and horticulture careers, green social prescribing programmes, a new partnership to run gardening sessions with adults with learning disabilities, and an inter-generational project for people with dementia.

A diverse range of projects

We know that in a rapidly changing world, community and school gardeners must adapt to ensure their work stays relevant and sustainable. The successful RHS Sustainable Futures applicants will seek to address these challenges and cover a diverse range of projects across the UK, from planting to tackle extreme weather conditions, to a school aiming to double its growing area to provide more fresh produce for their onsite food bank.

The successful applicants for the RHS Connected Communities and Sustainable Futures Grants are:
RHS Connected Communities Grant
  • Creative Minds (Khawateen Creative Minds), Birmingham
  • D’Eynsford Estate Secret Garden and Grounds, Southwark
  • Dig In CIO, Preston
  • Fairoak Housing Association, Kendal
  • Falmouth Food Co-op, Falmouth
  • FARE Scotland, Glasgow
  • Friends of Thornybauk, Edinburgh
  • Friends of High Park’s Green Spaces, Southport
  • Growing Matters at Gilmerton House Kitchen Garden, East Lothian
  • Mafwa Theatre CIC, Leeds
  • Martineau Gardens, Birmingham
  • Meanwhile Gardens Community Association, North Kensington
  • MHA Communities Cheshire West, Ellesmere Port
  • St Ives in Bloom, St Ives, Huntingdon
  • St Johns Parochial Church Council, Workington
  • The Shelthorpe Garden Steering Committee, Loughborough
  • Yusuf Youth Initiative, Dundee
RHS Sustainable Futures Grant
  • All Saints Catholic Primary, Liverpool
  • Aylsham High School, Norfolk
  • Belville Community Garden Trust, Greenock
  • Bersted Green Primary School, Bognor Regis
  • Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses, Lambeth
  • Cultivate London, Ealing
  • Godwin Junior School, Newham
  • FARE Scotland, Glasgow
  • Food4Families – Lavender Place Community Garden, Reading
  • Friends of Castle Parks Berwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed
  • Friends of Stretford Public Hall, Manchester
  • High Blantyre Primary School, Blantyre
  • Hirwaun Primary School, Aberdare
  • Holycroft Primary School, Keighley
  • Incredible Edible New Mills, High Peak
  • John Masefield High School, Ledbury
  • Lampard Community School, Barnstaple
  • Littlecoates Primary Academy, Grimsby
  • Phillimore Primary School, Sheffield
  • Queenborough Town Council, Isle of Sheppey
  • Ramsgreave Parish Council, Burnley
  • Richard Cloudesley School, Islington
  • Rishton Methodist Primary, Lancashire
  • Roundwood Bloomers / Forest & Family, Islington
  • Seven Kings School, Ilford
  • Stanford in the Vale Church of England Primary School, Oxfordshire
  • St John the Baptist RC Church, Rochdale
  • St Mary’s Lewisham CE Primary School, Lewisham
  • St Mary’s Primary, Glasgow
  • St Mary’s Special School & College, Bexhill-on-Sea
  • Stepney All Saints School, Tower Hamlets
  • Swiss Valley Community Primary School, Llanelli
  • The Broadstairs Town Team Ltd, Thanet
  • The Turning Tides Project CIC, Crediton

“This grant will help The Salopian Garden become more resilient to summer drought conditions by improving water capture and storage, enabling the local community to continue to produce food and train garden volunteers to use water effectively.”

Sally Tillson, Cultivate London
Pupils harvest their crops of vegetables
Flowerbeds with sustainable and drought-resistant plants
Sally Tillson from Cultivate London harvesting mizuna

“We want to create a culture of connectedness within communities and enable schools and groups to adapt and future-proof what they do. Throughout 2023, we’ll share the inspiring ways our school and community gardeners tackle common challenges to help the wider community do the same.”

Kay Clark, Community Development Manager

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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.