A partnership struck up between local landlord Coastline Housing and Greenfingers Cornwall Ltd, is about to pay dividends for residents living in the Redruth North parish.
Work being carried out by Greenfingers in Coastline Housing’s empty properties has led to the creation of a pot of funding for which local residents can ‘apply ’ to fund activities and trips which they would otherwise not be able to organise .
Greenfingers Cornwall Ltd is a social enterprise set up to make profits which will benefit people living under the umbrella of the Redruth North Partnership area. Established shortly after the successful ‘Operation Goodnight’ curfew took place in the Redruth North area, this scheme aims to help disadvantaged or unemployed young people by giving them training and work experience in horticultural and landscaping skills.
Kevin Hawke, Neighbourhood Manager for Redruth North Partnership (a Big Lottery funded project) explains: “Some of the guys that were the target of the Operation Goodnight have now completely turned their lives around thanks to Greenfingers, and have become involved in helping to improve and transform their community, instead of disrupting it.
“The project has become so successful thanks to the work from Coastline, that three local people are now employed permanently by Greenfingers and, now that a profit is being turned, we’re ploughing that straight back into the local community to benefit people who perhaps could use it for things like community trips or projects. It’s really a case of the local community helping the local community, and as far as I know, this is quite a unique set up.”
Claire Reeves, Neighbourhood and Involvement Manager at Coastline Housing, added: “It is a great opportunity to be working in partnership with the Redruth North Partnership and to be able to support local young people gaining valuable skills. The fact that profits from the project are now being recycled to benefit the community is the icing on the cake.”
Individuals living in the Redruth North Parish can now ‘apply’ for up to £250 at a time from the community funding pot created from the Greenfingers Cornwall Ltd profits. This could be for anything from a coach trip for older people to a sporting outing for local teenagers, from a training course to workshops, and everything in-between. Anyone wanting to apply to the Redruth North Community Fund can get an application form from Kevin in his office at The Kabin, Strawberry Lane, Redruth, email rnpfund@gmail.com or call him on 01209 212960. The closing date for applications is 31st January 2013.
The Greenfingers social enterprise project is also looking for additional work from private householders, or other local companies, to help further increase its community funding pot. Anyone interested in providing work for the Greenfingers social enterprise can contact Kevin for more information.