The Wilderness Foundation are the latest local group to benefit from one of our Community Fund grants, and they have big plans to use the money to further develop their ‘Down To Earth’ Allotment Project in Chelmsford.
Operating from an oasis of calm that is surprisingly well hidden from the Melbourne estate around it, the Wilderness Foundation have built a haven for both nature and those struggling with the pressures of life. Amongst vegetable patches, green houses, flower beds and ponds, you’ll find them holding classes for the vulnerable, for school children, therapy sessions, wilderness training, conservations efforts and a host of other activities based on the idea that by supporting nature we are supporting our own health and wellbeing.
Elected Co-op Members from our Membership Committee. who determine where our grant money is directed, took a tour of the site to see how the money would be spend. Pauline Dodd, Chair of the Committee, said; “The volunteers working here are so passionate about what they’re doing, and seeing that transfer to the people they’re working with, seeing them get their hands dirty and their faces light up when they unearth what they’ve grown… it was a joy to witness. This place does wonders and I feel the benefits even after a short visit.”
Clare Martin, Development Manager for the Wilderness Foundation, said; “Our programmes develop future sustainability leaders, build resilience in vulnerable teenagers and adults, introduce the idea of rural employment to urban youth, and bring curriculum-based sciences to life in the outdoors. We switch off technology and switch on reality!”
For more information on the Wilderness Foundation, and their projects locally and across the world, visit their website. For more information on our Community Fund check here.