Travel Bursary Scheme
Sometimes a visit to a successful allotment site is more useful for learning about regeneration than any fundraising course or factsheet. Plying the committee members with questions can provide answers to your own dilemmas or obstacles, as the chances are that they had to tackle them too. It is heartening to see "live" regeneration with your own eyes, especially on sites that were once close to dereliction.
The ARI Site Visits Travel Bursary is open to any group of people engaged in regenerating allotments that wishes to visit other allotment sites for the purpose of learning good practice. You may apply for up to £300 in total for the travel and associated expenses of up to six people to visit the allotment site(s) specified in the application form. For visits by larger groups, please contact us to discuss your requirements.
Fillongley Allotment Association used their Site Visit Travel Bursary to visit five allotment sites. Melody Stokes of Fillongley said:
"We were delighted to receive an ARI travel award, which came hot on the heels of an Esmée Fairbairn Trust grant, to regenerate our derelict site - we needed all the advice we could get! We applied to visit four Midland's sites of similar size to our own, selected from the ARI Good Sites Guide. Our first trip was to neighbouring Ansley Allotments, with whom we'd had no previous contact. The grant provided a good excuse."
"On a cold, sunny day, four Fillongley Allotments members met with Paul Gaskin and the Ansley team, who described their successful funding applications, inspiring us with their entrepreneurial skills. Later discussions over a pint were as helpful as the site visit."
"The advice certainly paid off. At their suggestion, we soon abandoned our original plan for concrete paths and replaced these with more environmentally friendly grass. After filling skip after skip on our site with carpets, slabs and plastic sheet we are now more careful with materials on our regenerated plots."
Melody and fellow plotholders also made equally informative visits to Moorlands and May Lane Allotments, where they were greeted with similar enthusiasm:
"A common feature has been the overwhelming kindness shown by the hosts and an amazing bond that falls into place between those who till the soil. Thanks in part to the invaluable advice we received during our visits funded by the Site Visits Travel Bursary Scheme, our own site has returned to its former glory (with the prospect of full utilisation next season)."
"We were especially pleased to invite our new friends to our Open Day barbecue. The scheme has provided us with an excuse to be nosey and to learn a great deal. Above all else we have met some wonderful people and know where to turn when we need further support and encouragement."
Click here to download an application form for a Site Visits Travel Bursary.
The 'Good Sites Guide' may help you identify which sites it will be most useful for you to visit. However, you are also welcome to apply to visit sites that are not in the Guide. Contact your ARI mentor for details of sites which might be useful for you to visit.