The only way is up! Little Green Roof Helps Boost Community Pride
Members of a tenants and residents association in New Moston, Greater Manchester, have unveiled their latest approach to boosting community pride - a mini garden on their allotment shed at the Northfields Day Centre.
The Little Green Roof was installed by Red Rose Forest's Green Streets Team, who work with local communities to create beautiful green roofs on small, uninhabited, communal buildings and structures around Manchester.
This roof is the latest installation that the project has delivered and is part funded by Manchester City Council's Carbon Innovation Fund. It aims to improve greenery and biodiversity whilst bringing communities together, as they help plan and construct the roof.
Bren Fawcett, who helped set up the resident's association - NEPHRA (who's name originates from the initials of some of the streets it represents) firmly believes it's projects like this that create community pride and stop anti-social behaviour.
"Six years ago, this wasn't a nice place at all. Kids would break windows, play football and get drunk. There was a real need for our community to come together.
"So we decided to get together and create a residents association for the surrounding area. The interest from residents was huge and the idea just snowballed into more and more exciting projects. The latest edition is our Little Green Roof. It's our pride and joy.
"Now, trouble on the site just doesn't happen. The kids see how beautiful everything, including the roof, looks and they leave it alone because they respect the time and effort we have put in and they want to keep it that way.
"The Little Green Roof project is great. People are intrigued and it benefits everyone. It brought together different people including local volunteers, day centre staff, service users and Red Rose Forest staff.
"It was great fun and helped build friendships, confidence and community spirit. And herbs growing on the roof will be used with other vegetables grown on site to provide food for our luncheon club!"
"My advice to anyone thinking of getting involved in this or similar project is contact Kevin at Red Rose Forest, check your eligible and go for it!"
Kevin Wigley from Red Rose Forest says "These roofs really bring a community together. They are simple but quickly become the talk of the neighbourhood, as well as providing a range of important benefits to wildlife and our environment.
"We are looking for more small, uninhabited buildings where the roofs can be transformed into eye catching new habitats."
If you know of a small roof on a communal building in Manchester suitable for this project, or if you want to get involved in building a green roof, email or visit www.redroseforest.co.uk.
Red Rose Forest is a leading environmental regeneration initiative and the Community Forest for central and western Greater Manchester.
