Community gardens offer people of all ages and backgrounds a place to come together to socialise, be active in the community, and grow edible produce close to home.
But beyond improving food access, community gardens provide the space for impactful grassroots-level social change, such as that done by the Byford Community Garden Urban Agriculture Education Program.
The Byford Community Garden Urban Agriculture Education Program grows produce which is then supplied to the Byford Baptist Church Free Food Market to distribute to families in need.
This initiative was able to flourish due to funding from the Department of Communities Community Gardens Grants Program that supports the establishment and development of sustainable and edible community gardens in Western Australia.
The program’s Urban Ag Ed Coordinator Gary Richards said the grant allowed them to expand the program, giving the community an opportunity to learn how to grow food and gain agricultural skills and knowledge.
“We doubled the space to grow more free vegetables and have a wider reaching program that also included cooking, seed saving and preserving food,” he said.
Organisations can request up to $10,000 per project for a range of support, from garden planning and design to equipment, training and more.
Previous grant recipients include the Boddington Community Resource Centre to develop a native bushtucker garden, Yandeyarra Remote Community School to run a ‘desert to plate’ concept, and Milligan Community Learning and Resource Centre to offer inclusive and accessible homegrown community garden workshops to people who have newly moved to Australia.
The latest round of Community Garden Grants has now opened. To find out more, visit the grants page or email grants@communities.wa.gov.au.
Images credit: Byford Community Garden.
