Green-fingered volunteers can get their hands on funding up to £500 for schemes to spruce-up their local areas.
The “It’s Your Neighbourhood” campaign, a joint project between Durham County Council and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), has the money available for everything from planting flowers to litter picks.
It was launched on Monday (1st December) and is supported by members of the council’s civic pride team who can offer advice and loan equipment as well as get schools involved.
Pauline Walker, senior civic pride officer, Durham County Council, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for community groups to make a positive change to the place where they live, work or spend their leisure time.”
Funding up to £500 is available for 15 projects and is available for groups across County Durham.
The campaign builds on the recent success in Britain in Bloom in which Durham City and Sedgefield were both awarded gold.
The Durham City bid was supported by the Durham in Bloom group, which is made up of various local organisations including Durham County Council, while Sedgefield’s campaign was led by Sedgefield Town Council and Sedgefield in Bloom and supported by the county council.
Judges were full of praise for both entries – hailing the teamwork and spirit involved and commenting on how both campaigns were close to coming out on top in their respective categories.
Application forms and terms and conditions for “It’s Your Neighbourhood” are available to download at www.durham.gov.uk/itsyourneighbourhood or by contacting the civic pride team on 03000 261 000 or by email [email protected]
Closing date for applications is Friday 30th January 2015.