Plant swap initiative comes to County Wicklow
The plant swap team in place at Blessington Library, including Dónal McCormack, Chairperson of Blessington Allotments Campaign (far left) and Jason Mulhall, Chairperson of Blessington Tidy Towns (Back row, second from right).
Hundreds of plants were shared by members of the local community.
Community growers from Dublin and Omagh made donations of seeds and plants.
On Saturday residents from across west Wicklow took place in the first ever Blessington Plant Swap in Blessington Library, organised by the Blessington Allotments Campaign and supported by Blessington Tidy Towns.
The event was organised to encourage sustainability and wellness for the local community along with helping the wider environment. One key focus of plant swaps is about growing local communities and encouraging the growing of food and plants at home.
Hundreds of plants were shared by members of the local community at this event. Advice and guides about how to grow food in a sustainable and biodiversity-friendly way were also shared for attendees of the event.
Donations of seeds and plants for this event were also received from community growers in Dublin and Omagh.
Dónal McCormack, Chairperson of Blessington Allotments Campaign, said: “A huge thanks to everyone who attended the first ever Plant Swap in Blessington Library. This event was created to allow residents access seeds and plants for free, and encourage members of the community to come together to grow.
“It was great to see so many people come together and chat about plants on a Saturday afternoon. A huge thank you to everyone who came and the groups who supported this event, especially Blessington Tidy Towns, the staff in Blessington Library, Jim Callery and Liam Cullen of Wicklow County Council, and Maria Young of Green Spaces for Health in Cork City who provided leaflets on community gardens.”
Jason Mulhall, Chairperson of Blessington Tidy Towns, said: “Blessington Tidy Towns were delighted to support the first ever Blessington Plant Swap in Blessington Library. Our two organisations have a proven history of working together and making a positive impact on climate change and biodiversity in the local community.
“This event is an easy way for communities to act more sustainably, and directly contributes towards a number of the UN Sustainable Development Goals including 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 13 (Climate Action) and 15 (Life on Land). We were delighted to see so many people attend the event on Saturday. As a community, we are stronger when working together towards common goals such as these.”
Following the successful launch, the Blessington Allotments Campaign and Blessington Tidy Towns are hoping to run a similar plant swap in April of this year.
