Foundation Housing are Awarded 2nd place in Tenant Participation Awards
Foundation Housing are proud to announce that we were awarded 2nd place for the TPAS Participation award for improving the environment. The award was for the work that the tenants did on initiating the garden project last year at the People's Project in Cardiff, and for the articles that they wrote with Support staff for our newsletter.
The great feature about this project, is that it really has been tenant led. The tenants and the staff at the project were very creative in improving the garden area at the project in a self sufficient and self sustaining way.
We would like to express our thanks and appreciation for the staff who donated plant pots, compost, seeds and cuttings last year for the tenants to get the garden project underway (tenants families also gave quite a few plants and hanging baskets),‘Norm the Lawn' (our gardener) for all the work and suggestions he provided at the project.
Some excerpts from our nomination:
During the Spring of 2009 a tenant suggested improving the environment for all of the young people living at the project by developing a previously disused area at the back of the property, which is accessible to all of the tenants. This ‘yard-type' area was a space that was rarely used by the tenants and there was no sense of ownership or perception that this area could be utilized by them whilst living at the project. Tenants worked together with the aim of utilizing this area so that they could grow their own food and flowers and enjoy this space as a place they could go to meet with friends and other tenants, spending time working on the garden and enjoying the outdoors.
Tenants spent many hours digging and clearing rubbish and rocks from the grounds in order to create 3 main planting areas. As the year progressed a wide variety of flowers and plants were successfully grown. A compost bin was soon added to the project so that the tenants could recycle various waste products. The ‘back yard' has been developed in such a way that any tenant moving into the project can easily access this space and make use of the planting areas that have been established. The tenants who initiated this project have had the experience of developing their ideas into a project of substance, and have had a ‘hands on' experience of helping to improve a place in which they live and the facilities that are available.
Alongside this, the tenants involved in developing this project also had the opportunity of producing articles for the organisation's newsletter, which was later picked up by the landlords of the property who also printed these articles in their support magazine. As a result of this, the tenants formed a journalistic type group with the aim of producing articles on different subjects, with the latest focusing upon a local market that produces organically grown food. During the research that the tenants undertook to produce this article they also discussed gardening techniques with stall holders who gave them various ideas and tips for improving the food they produce.
Copy of the full nomination available upon request.
