Seating Design Options

We are currently finalising a seating design brief which we will be submitting to Furness College tutor Mike Walsh early in the New year. This follows our previous partnership work with Mike and the art and design stduents from the College which culminated in the successful installation of the new gates to arch D.
Funding for the seating design, fabrication and installation is to be provided from a grant we received from Our Green Space,  a Cumbria-wide three-year partnership project running from Jan 2008 to Dec 2010 supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund’s 'Your Heritage' grant scheme.

Information about the Our Green Space project can be found on their website here.

Thrive - Carry On Gardening

Thrive is a small national charity, founded in 1978, that uses gardening to change the lives of disabled people.
Their activities are varied but focus on championing the benefits of gardening to individuals and organizations, as well as teaching techniques and practical applications so that anyone with a disability can take part and enjoy gardening.  For more information, please visit their website here.

Carry on Gardening presents Thrive's experience and expertise in gardening with a disability, which has been gathered over 30 years of helping disabled people to start or continue gardening. For additional information please have a look through their website here.

Potential Railway Arch Development

We continue to consult with Spacia in the hope of securing a long term lease for potential development of the six adjacent railway arches.

Since 2004 we have conducted and commissioned various consultations in the local area regarding options for the potential uses of the railway arches. The management committee hope that they can be developed as a social enterprise - in such a way that they would be of benefit to the community and provide additional resources for the local area.
Options identified during consultations conducted between 2004 - 2009 have been assessed in terms of; feasibility, sustainability, their ability to satisfy the needs and aspirations of the community, and the economic, social and environmental impact any potential development would have on the local community.

A summary of our various consultation reports can be downloaded here.

Among the themes identified include:

• Facilities for young people
• Sports and recreation centre
• Health/healthy living resource
• Training and educational resource
• Routes to employment
• Environmental activities
• Arts and media

It could also be beneficial to use one arch as our office/base of operations and include; a shared communal space, toilet, washroom, and kitchen facilities. This could be utilised as a show case arch.

Our First Snow

......Additional pictures can be viewed on our Flickr photo gallery here.

Merry Christmas

The Green Heart Den would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

We would also like to thank all of our friends, neighbours, partners and funders for their continued support throughout 2009, we look forward to working with you all again in 2010.

Arch D Gates Before and After - North

Our new gates on arch D, as viewed from the North plot.

Arch D - Before and After

Arch D gates - before and after - as viewed from the Green Heart Den. Big thank you to tutor Mike Walsh and the art and design students from Furness College, Gilmour Fabrications Ltd, Spacia and the Sir John Fisher Foundation who generously provided  funding for the work.

Arch D Gates Update

Present for the installation of our new gates are -  from left to right;  Furness College tutor Mike Walsh, art and design student Heather Stephenson and our project coordinator Graham Bromley.

This follows our partnership work with Mike and the art and the design students in which we provided a "real life" design brief, asking if the students could produce realistic and feasible design options for enhancements to the basic gates. Heathers design for enhancing the gates was chosen by our committee and following a successful funding application from the Sir John Fisher Foundation we were able to commission local Company Gilmour Fabrications Ltd to manufacture and install the gates.

An article about the gates and the excellent work of the Furness College students can be viewed on the North West Evening Mail website here.

Bird Box Update

Our bird boxes - constructed, donated and sited by pupils from Greengate Junior School - continue to attract interest from of the local bird population.

Green Heart Den Attendances 2009

We have collated the final total of attendances for 2009.  Each individual visit is based on those consiting of a group of 4 or more people who have used or visited the Green Heart Den. Details include:

• Number of individual visits: 143
• Aged 8-11: 886
• Aged 11-16: 207
• Aged 16-18: 325
• Adult/resident: 688
• Agency/Organisation: 364
• Total attendances for 2009.......... 2470 

A complete breakdown of these totals can be downloaded here.

Christmas Event

Approximately 300 visitors attended the Green Heart Den for our FREE Christmas event.  Vistors were treated to mince pies, selection boxes, hot and cold drinks and live music from a brass band. Young and old alike also got the opportunity to help us decorate our Christmas tree.

Additional pictures from the event can be viewed on our Flickr photo gallery here.

Thank you to all our friends, neighbours, partners and funders who joined us on what was an absolutely fantastic day.

Junior Wardens John Muir Award Activity Update

Pictured left to right above are: Helen Wiggan from Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service, John Muir Trust inclusion coordinator Miranda Morgan, Senior Neighbourhood Warden Andy High, Junior Warden Lucy Bromley, John Muir Trust regional manager Graham Watson and Green Heart Den volunteer Graham Bromley.

Following the recent meeting with representatives of the John Muir Trust -  who were visiting the garden to learn more about the project as a whole and to discuss the work of Central and Hindpool Junior Wardens and their efforts to achieve a John Muir Discovery Level Award -  Community Press Editor, Rosie Hillman has included a story about the scheme in the Hindpool Buzz Edition of the Communty Press.
 
Copies of the Hindpool Buzz can be obtained for FREE at Central and Hindpool Neighbourhood Management Office, 242/244 Dalton Road, Barrow.
 
...............a copy of the article can be downloaded here.

Article and picture courtesy of Community Press Editor, Rosie Hillman.

Information about the work of the John Muir Trust can be found on their website here.

Green Heart Den Xmas Event

The Green Heart Den would like to invite you to join us at our Xmas event which will take place between 1pm and 3pm on Saturday 12th December. For details please see the poster below.

Alternatively this poster can also be downloaded here.

Barrow 6th Form College Visit

Art and design tutor, James Lakes (far right) and students from Barrow 6th Form College visiting the Green Heart Den during their tour of various regeneration projects in Barrow. The college became involved with this and other local projects through Julia Geere, the Enterprise Learning Advisor at Barrow Excellence Cluster Partnership's ‘Involving Schools and Colleges in Barrow's regeneration" programme, which is funded by West Lakes Renaissance.

Independent Strategic Review

As part of our ongoing and continuous monitoring and evaluation process, we recently commissioned local consulatant Mike Brockbank of VCF Solutions to conduct a frank and meaningful evaluation of our Company. This was funded through the grant we recevied from  Our Green Space.

A copy of the Strategic Review can be downloaded here.

We would like to thank Mike for his efforts and take this opportunity and thank all those who kindly contributed to the final report. It was very much appreciated.

Update - Arch D Gates

The gates for arch D cannot now be installed on Monday 7th December.

The gates will now be installed, week beginning Monday 14th December.

Barrow 6th Form College Visit

Colin Aldred, Head of Art Facility - Barrow Sixth Form College and students from the college visiting the Green Heart Den along with Julia Geere - Barrow Excellence Cluster Partnership. As part of their involvement in the Regeneration of Barrow Project they are visiting local regeneration projects and attended the Green Heart Den to discuss how our project has developed, how we have worked in partnership with others and to learn a little more about our plans for the future.

Update - Arch D Gates

Work to complete the installation of the new gates for arch D will begin on Monday 7th December. This follows our partnership work with Mike Walsh and the art and design students from Furness College in which we provided a "real life" design brief, asking if the students could produce realistic and feasible design options for enhancements to the basic gates.
Once our committee had agreed on the final design by student Heather Stephenson, and following a successful funding application from the Sir John Fisher Foundation we were able to commission local Company Gilmour Fabrications Ltd to manufacture and install the gates.

Barrow 6th Form College Year 11 Student Visit

Year 11 Society, Health and Development students from Barrow 6th Form College visiting the Green Heart Den and discussing the project with Project Coordinator Graham Bromley. The visit was arranged with Genevieve Fair, Kathryn Metcalfe (Tutor of Health and Social Care – Barrow Sixth Form College) who thought it could be of benefit to the students coursework in which they needed to learn how agencies, organisations and groups have worked together for a particular local community project. Comments received during the recent visits from the College and its students included:

• "Very good, and helpful for the community"
• "Amazing"
• "Well done"
• "Looks good, but needs a toilet :-)"
• "I enjoyed my time at the garden project"
• "I enjoyed the flowers, the water feature and the plans for the future"
• "Your plans for the future sound very good"
• "Good, I had fun"

We would like to thank the College and its students for their interest in our project and look foward to other visits and developing potential options for their continued involvement.

Junior Wardens John Muir Award Update

Following the visit from John Muir Trust inclusion coordinator Miranda Morgan and John Muir Trust regional manager Graham Watson, the Trust has prepared a short case study based on the work of Central and Hindpool Neighbourhood Managements team of Junior Wardens and their efforts to achieve a John Muir, Discovery Level Award.

You can download a copy of the case study here.

Miranda and John passed details of the Green Heart Den blog to other members of the John Muir Award team and these were some of the comments received:

• “Good stuff!”
• “Wow - that is amazing - I am inspired now and I didn't even go and see it! “
• “It looks like an amazing place”
• “Nice one!”

Details of the John Muir Award can be found on the Trusts website here.

Big thank you to Senior Warden Andy High for all of his hard work in coordinating the efforts of the Junior Wardens.

Green Heart Den Xmas Event

The Green Heart Den would like to invite you to join us at our Xmas event which will take place between 1pm and 3pm on Saturday 12th December. For details please see the poster below.

Alternatively this poster can also be downloaded here.

Guardian Newspaper Article

Green Heart Den as featured in a Guardian Newspaper suppliment.

A copy of the article can be downloaded here.