The City of Colwood has announced the recipients of this year’s Create Places Grants, and the projects the grants will be supporting.
Five projects were approved by the city for this second year of the grant, and will be receiving up to $5,000 each, though specific amounts have not yet been released by the city. The grant is to support projects which bring neighbours together, transform spaces, and foster a renewed sense of community pride, according to a news release.
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Sooke School District received one of the grants for the creation of an outdoor communication board. Communication boards are designed with inclusion in mind. The boards feature symbols or pictures that are used to facilitate communication, through pointing, gazing or touching. They are intended to help children access some of the most common words that we use when communicating, also called ‘core’ words. This communication board will be installed at West Shore Parks & Recreation Rotary Playground.
Royal Roads received a grant for the revitalization of their kitchen garden, which is aiming to model food-forward leadership by creating an edible landscape and small-scale food production system within the century-old walled garden. Publicly accessible, the revitalized kitchen garden will consist of row gardens, polyculture orchard, apiary, Indigenous food garden and gathering space, giving garden farm stand, and an outdoor classroom.
Another grant will go toward building a new Little Free Library featuring puzzles, games, and books. The structure will be designed by local artisans who are donating their time and talents to create a beautiful and functional addition to the community, with something for all ages. Once completed, it will be located on the boulevard along Royal Bay Drive.
The fourth grant will help fund a “take what you need, give what you can model” free little pantry which will carry non-perishable pantry items year-round. Providing a resource for residents to access food on a small scale, and when they can, support other community members by giving back. The pantry’s location will be announced at a later date.
The final grant for 2022 is going toward the creation of an outdoor message board featuring rotating poetry from Royal Bay High School and Dunsmuir Middle School students. The vision is to create an opportunity to focus on the literary arts in a natural, social setting that is suitable for all ages. The poetry display station will be installed near the circle of boulders near the entry point from Goldfinch Road.
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