National Lottery Grants for Heritage – £10,000 to £250,000
Throughout 2024, Brink! Stories CIC worked in partnership with two organisations – quarto and Grow – on a site identified for future regeneration on the corner of North Street and Royal Avenue, Belfast. Our funding supported the building of an outdoor kitchen and space to grow produce, where a diverse group of locals gathered to learn about food production, past and present, while reflecting on the history of site.
Participants were encouraged to share their own unique food heritage and reflect on how to improve biodiversity and sustainability in a city.
Group activities included:
- guided tours
- collaborative mapping
- foraging
- forest walks
- planting
- harvesting and preparing food plants
- building a clay oven
The project also encouraged participants to think about their everyday actions, such as cooking, eating and growing, as a personal way to address the climate emergency.
Gawain Morrison, co-founder and director of Brink!, said: “A Growing Story used this space to demonstrate what can happen when we understand our city centre differently, make it grow and play, experiment and educate there. This heritage project is at the heart of Brink!’s plan to engage people of Belfast on issues that will arise from climate change.”
A Growing Story finished at the end of 2024, but Brink! will continue hosting skill-sharing workshops and cultural events on the site throughout 2025. It hopes to maintain the community’s connection with the environment through food, art, design, music and literature.
Explore more projects we’ve funded in Northern Ireland.
