Art Gene’s Allotment Soup helps make a new woodland for Haverigg Prison

 

Art Gene is pleased to donate the first batch of BOOM Aspen trees, cared for by Allotment Soup community growers at the Isle of Walney Community Growing Space, to HM Prison Haverigg.

As part of Art Gene’s partnership with University of Cumbria’s Back On Our Map (BOOM) National Lottery Heritage Funded project, volunteers and community growers have been involved in many stages of the Aspen project, including taking root cuttings from native local Aspen, planting plug plants, and caring for the young trees as they grow.

Now, 50 of the small trees have left Barrow for HMP Haverigg, where residents will be creating and caring for their own woodland inside the prison grounds. Alongside BOOM, our volunteers and community growers will be propagating and caring for up to 800 Aspen trees on Walney Island, to be planted back out into the South Cumbria landscape throughout project. It’s fantastic to see the first batch leave for a new home in Cumbria so soon.

 

Above: 50 young trees before leaving the Isle of Walney Community Growing Space, photo Ruth Essex.

Above: Potting up plug plants at ‘BOOM Grows in Barrow’ launch event, photo Maddi Nicholson

Above: Aspen plug plants, photo Maddi Nicholson

Above: young plug plants in leaf, photo Maddi Nicholson.