Lower Kersal Young People and Community Group had been awarded a grant of £25,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to finance their first large scale production.
The Fruits of Our Labour project was used to bring the heritage of the local allotments back to life by building on some of the charities precious skills in drama and filming with a re-enactment in costume of bygone eras to show how the Littleton Road based allotments began, and how they came to play a central role in the community.
The money was also be spent on clearing out overgrown parts of the allotments. Project Manager Thomas Lever MBE, who has worked with the area’s youngsters for over a decade hoped that the scheme would show just how vital allotments have been to Salford. He said ” We want to bring the history of the allotments to the local people, like when during World War Two there was a shortage of food and the allotments became a life saver.”
“People do want to know about the history of the area and we want to bring it to life.”
“Over 80 different types of vegetables are still grown on there and we also want to teach young people how to get involved and grow their own.”
Councillor Maureen Lea, Salford City Council’s lead member for the environment at the time said, “I am fully supportive of this innovative project that gets young people involved in their environment, local history and understanding healthy eating. It will also straddle the generation gap and bring people of all ages together.”
You can see the film here : https://youtu.be/sBd9VhikrIE
As well as the documentary here : https://youtu.be/f4zmQfe6qi0