Culture Minister sees WREN swing into action
The MP for Wantage and Didcot dropped in to the Great Western Drive estate to learn how a £22,800 grant from WREN would be used to create the communal garden which will bring local residents, young and old, together.
Mr Vaizey also visited Didcot Railway Centre to see how £20,000 from WREN had been used to restore and revive a World War II Beehive air raid shelter.
In 2009 Soha Housing and Groundwork UK were awarded £22,800 from the group to create the garden, sited within metres of a play area which was also refurbished thanks to a £15,000 donation from WREN. Volunteers will learn new skills helping to design, create and maintain the new green space, with work starting in summer and ending in September.
Mr Vaizey, WREN MD Peter Cox and Grant Manager Mathew Cox visited the site of the green space project, met with pupils from Didcot Girls’ School and representatives from Soha Housing to talk about plans for the garden and how it aims to transform the estate into a greener, cleaner, safer place.
Jane Cox, project manager for sustainable communities at Soha Housing, said WREN’s funding had been critical in making the community garden a reality.
“The donation of £22,800 is no small amount,” she added. “It means we have been able to consult with local people to design a garden based on their views and ideas, to create a fantastic new green space in the middle of this housing estate.
“The aim is to bring residents of all ages and backgrounds together to volunteer and learn new skills, such as horticulture and team working. We’ve already got local police officers, students from Abingdon College and people living on the estate lined up to help create the garden. We’re looking forward to starting the digging and planting this summer, ready for the garden to be unveiled by September.”
On visiting the Didcot Railway Centre, Mr Vaizey said that WREN’s commitment to funding heritage projects was extremely important, especially in times of funding cutbacks.
The restored Beehive shelters at the Railway Centre give Didcot schoolchildren the chance to experience what is was like living in wartime Britain,” he added.
“They are important artefacts from our history, and it’s vitally important that heritage funding like this continues so that future generations can learn about our past.”
“I think the great thing about these projects is that they’re not huge, they’re not vast, they’re small scale. I think it’s about projects that come from the ground up where people are driving them on the ground and saying ‘this is what we want’, and then getting in touch with WREN and WREN bridging that gap between the aspirations of local people and the funding that’s needed to realise these projects. So it’s a very important part of the local community.
“If you look at WREN’s annual report you’ll see their funding spreads across the whole country. So I think they use their money very wisely and I think they manage to get to lots of different projects in lots of different parts of the country."
In 2009 alone, WREN gave away almost £400,000 of funding to projects in Oxfordshire. Since 1998, WREN has paid out more than £4million to projects in the county, money generated by the LCF which has made a significant impact in the area and supported projects that make a real different to people’s lives.
