Communities invited to get involved with this year’s Get Ireland Growing initiative

Caroline Foran launches the 2022 Energia Get Ireland Growing campaign

Through this initiative, Energia has supported over 250 community groups with grants totalling €220,000

Horticulture

21 April 2022

Energia’s Get Ireland Growing (GIY) initiative is back for 2022, and once again communities across Ireland have been invited to get involved. Now in its sixth year, Energia is giving away 300 growing starter kits worth €42,500 to communities across Ireland as part of the campaign.

Throughout Covid-19, many people re-evaluated how important local communities are for physical and mental wellbeing. Green spaces became a sanctuary for most people, particularly in the height of lockdowns and for those without a garden. As Ireland continues to reopen and normalise, Energia and GIY hope to encourage communities to regenerate green spaces in their local areas and further re-ignite community spirit and connection.

Energia Get Ireland Growing was first launched in 2016 to promote community food growing projects nationwide. Through this initiative, Energia has supported over 250 community groups with grants totalling €220,000. The recipients include schools, NGOs and Not for Profits, community gardens and allotment groups, GIY groups, hospitals, crèches, direct provision centres and men’s sheds across the country.

How to get involved

If you are already part of a community group, for example, a resident’s association, a Men’s Shed, a Tidy Town Association, a parent’s association, or an environmental community network, now is your chance to bring food growing into your group activities.

If you are not yet part of a community group, you can still take part. Bring the idea to the friend group – bring seeds along to the coffee morning or evening book club. Then, plan your activities. You could plant in each other’s gardens or host a growing morning together to swap seedlings. You could go one step further and see if there is a local vegetable patch in your community or a local star grower that you can learn from. For your local community groups, consider your local sports groups, and residents associations, and connect with your county council.

“Growing food as a community has always been a part of Irish culture,” said Mick Kelly, Founder of GIY. “This year, Energia Get Ireland Growing is all about getting back to growing food together and reconnecting with nature by recapturing the skills and reaping the rewards of growing your own food. It is about bringing to life the spaces we share and tending to the communal plot.

“As we are coming into summer it’s the perfect time to start planting some of our favourite vegetables and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Energia again to help in our mission to bring food growing back to the heart of the Irish community. Let’s nurture what’s in our nature and Get Ireland Growing again.”

“We are passionate about helping communities across Ireland become more sustainable and connected,” said Lorna Danaher, sponsorship manager at Energia. “We know more people are increasingly interested in trying to live a more sustainable life but are not always sure how or where to start. Energia and GIY have shared goals in wanting to support communities to be more resilient, connected, and sustainable, ensuring our legacy to future generations is a positive one.

To register, and be in for the chance of winning a growing kit, please visit www.getirelandgrowing.ie