Countdown Growing for Good Grants

As part of our commitment to protect our precious environment, Countdown has now opened up its second round of Growing for Good grants.

Growing for Good was launched last year, and is designed to help foster our next generation of budding environmentalists, gardeners and conservationists.  We were thrilled to provide $25,000 in funding for a range of cool little projects right across Aotearoa schools.

This year we’ve opened it up to early childhood education centres as well.  The kind of projects that we funded last year included installing beehives and chicken coops, building and improving fruit and vege gardens, investigating maramataka, growing Māori medicinal plants, and reducing food waste.

If you have a group of budding gardeners, conservationists and environmental champions and have a project in mind to help protect Aotearoa’s environment for generations to come - we can help with that.

Funding available:

Countdown Growing for Good grants of up to $1,000.00 (ex GST) each, will be offered in the second grant round. A total of $25,000 in grants will be provided.

How to apply:

All New Zealand early childhood education centres, primary schools and intermediate schools can apply for a Growing for Good grant by submitting their application by 15 November 2019.

To read the Growing for Good Grants application guidelines, click here.

To submit an application form, click here.  

Key dates:

Applications open: 14 October 2019

Applications close: 15 November 2019

Projects Announced: End of February 2020

Final report due and projects completed: 23 October 2020

Enquiries:

If you have any questions, please contact us at: growingforgood@countdown.co.nz

 

Round 1 Winners (in geographical order):

Kawakawa Primary

  • Installed beehives and used the wax to make beeswax wraps. 

Whangarei Immediate School

  • Planted a garden of traditional Māori plants used for medicinal purposes

Waitoki Primary School

  • Built a chicken coop for their high needs students

Whangaparaoa School

  • Installed a sensory garden to encourage inclusion for those who can’t access outdoor areas.

Hobsonville Point Primary

  • Planted a Kiwi Kai Garden for Matariki 2019 and supported teaching tikanga Māori

Henderson Valley School

  • Built a community garden

Kadimah School

  • Installed a chicken coop and chickens

Bucklands Beach Primary School

  • Purchased gardening equipment

Pahoia Primary

  • Installed a compost to reduce waste and support learning

Welcome Bay School

  • Installed a rainwater tank for their existing veggie patch

Apanui School

  • Began growing a fruit orchard to help children understand food production and seasonality while supporting healthy eating

Pukeatua School

  • Planted an orchard to help with school lunches and to support local food rescue groups

Waikirikiri School

  • Installed a bee friendly, sensory garden

Puketapu School

  • Created a biodiversity area to support and protect native insects

Kaimata School

  • Added to existing beehives and use their own wax to make beeswax wraps to reduce the use of gladwrap in school lunchboxes

Poukawa School

  • Created a food forest – including plants for shade, shelter, medicine, soil fertility and pest control

Ashhurst School

  • Installed a Butterfly and Ladybird House, planted a vegetable and herb garden and put in a compost system

Whakarongo School

  • Expanded their orchard to add variation to the current crops and to support local food rescue groups

Paekākāriki School

  • Learnt about the tikanga of harakeke and the rongoā of Māori medicinal plants through the planting and harvesting of these

Fernridge School

  • Created an outdoor learning space of a sensory garden and planting to feed native birds and insects

Hampton Hill School

  • Started to develop a forest fruit canopy garden to help children understand food production and food literacy

Dovedale School

  • Grew a vegetable garden

Lake Brunner School

  • Planted a companion garden for bees and butterflies and develop a spray free vegetable garden

Amberley School

  • Planted a vegetable garden and teach harvesting and cooking

Burnside Primary

  • Implemented a waste management system

South New Brighton

  • Started to develop a community garden to support food resilience programme

Our Lady of the Snows School

  • Built a chicken coup

Portobello School

  • Planted native plants using maramataka (moon cycles) and then use the school as a nursery to support planting in a local Marae

MacAndrew Bay School

  • Purchased a stream health monitoring and assessment kit to expand on the work previously done to improve the area around their local stream

Winton School

  • Built a worm farm to help reduce food waste and use the compost to grow fresh produce for families in the community