Fruit & Veg on the Menu

Fresh home-grown fruit and veg will soon be on the menu at a Leeds community centre after it received funding to develop a new kitchen garden.

The Cottingley Community Project, in Cottingley Approach, won a £5,000 award from Northern Green Networks, the environmental support programme operated by gas distribution company Northern Gas Networks to fund the work.

The group will spend the award clearing an overgrown area alongside the community centre and turning it into a working kitchen garden with a wildlife area.

The group was one of 15 to share a total awards budget of £50,000 which the gas company launched earlier this year.

Dave Hutchison, Head of Health, Safety & Environment at the firm, said this was a clear demonstration of Northern Gas Networks' commitment to grassroots organisations.

"Groups such as this in Cottingley can be the lifeblood of their local community," he said. "By providing this type of sponsorship we hope to nurture local groups and organisations and enable them to grow. We're delighted to support this project in Cottingley and the others we are helping across the north of England."

The Rev Barry Parker, associate minister at the community centre, made the successful application.

"The award will enable us to develop the plans we already had for the kitchen garden, enabling us to grow fruit and vegetables literally right outside the kitchen door, for the benefit of all those who use the community centre. It will also help us to reduce our carbon footprint," he said.

Photograph - download here

Caption: Dave Hutchison of Northern Gas Networks, front left, gets to grips with clearing the kitchen garden area at Cottingley community centre with Richard Lancaster, community development officer, front right, Councillor Angela Gabriel, chairman of Cottingley in Bloom, and the Rev Barry Parker.