Last Updated: May 2
Category: GBN Projects
The ABLE project has received generous funding of £33,500 from Wooden Spoon, the rugby charity supporting disadvantaged children and young people, to install three large greenhouses at the ABLE project.
The large greenhouses (20’ x 30’) will be used to allow training in horticulture year round. An extension of piping from the on-site renewable heating boiler, presently used for the fish farming area, will create hothouse conditions in winter months and ensure that teaching and food production in the three greenhouses can take place whatever the weather.
The greenhouses will also be used to develop a system of aquaponics. Aquaponics is a system whereby water from the fish tanks is channelled to hydroponic grow beds where the nutrient rich fish waste feeds plants in growing beds. The recycled water is then returned to the fish tanks clean and oxygenated. This saves on water, as the system requires only a minimum daily input, just enough to clean the waste from the filters and to replace water lost to evaporation.
The food grown in the greenhouses and in the outdoor growing areas will be used in the kitchen. It will be cooked and prepared by young people at the site as part of their training, and served in the canteen area to the young people attending the site that day.
The ABLE project provides training and learning opportunities to young people from several groups: those identified as being in danger of exclusion from school; those already excluded; and groups from the probation service.
