A MORAY COMMUNITY is in line for a major financial boost for a project to transform an area of wasteland into a community garden.
Hundreds of hours of voluntary work has already gone into the Burghead Railway Yard project, transforming an area of the coastal town into a multi-purpose area to be enjoyed by every corner of the community.
Funds have been donated from several sources – notably including a £6000 grant from Diageo, who operate a Maltings in the town. It has, however, largely been through the efforts of local volunteers that piece by piece the former railway station yard is being transformed.
Now the project has been selected for a grant that will be at least £8000 and as much as £12,000 – with votes from the public deciding the level.
The funding will come from a scheme initiated by Tesco in partnership with Greenspace Scotland in their ‘Bags of Help’ initiative. Three community group projects have been selected from three regions, and each will receive funding from cash collected through the 5p reusable bag charge at Tesco stores.
Each project will receive either £8000, £10,000 or £12,000 according to the result of a public vote taking place between February 27 and March 5.
A spokeswoman for the Burghead Community Garden said: “With £8000 we can pave the old platform area of the station yard with new planting boxes, while £10,000 would also allow us to provide equipment for younger children.
“A covered pergola would be possible, however, with the £12,000 gift so we would all dearly love to reach that – but whatever the sum, this is fantastic news for our project.”
Further information on the Burghead Community Garden project can be found on their Facebook page.