-
Status
Received: on time
-
Income
£3.4K
-
Spending
£2.7K
Public benefits
The direct benefits flowing from the organisation's purposes include: 1) the safeguarding of the built heritage and botanical and horticultural heritage of the Gardens as a protected and unique place of outstanding quality and beauty, for the continued enjoyment by local residents, students of schools and universities, national and international
visitors; the education of residents, students and visitors in the historical botanical and horticultural relevance of the Gardens within the city of Belfast and Northern Ireland. This increases the public's understanding of the importance of the Gardens as a heritage asset and cultural jewel in the history of Victorian Belfast, as an amenity with health and well-being benefits and its relevance to the contemporary life of the city and its contribution to making Belfast a globally successful regional city and world class visitor attraction; The benefits can be demonstrated, for example, by the successful restoration of the Tropical Ravine. FoBBG had campaigned and raised funds for this restoration for a long time and well before the successful application for Heritage Lottery funding. FoBBG contributed £20,000 to the restoration fund (see attached). FoBBG were involved in the design and content of the new signage within the Tropical Ravine. These signs outline the historical development of the Gardens and include horticultural knowledge about the various plants on display. The benefits can be demonstrated by the numbers of people visiting the restored Tropical Ravine. Feedback from participants on courses run by FoBBG in Northern Ireland Science week clearly demonstrate the educational benefits for visitors to the gardens (see samples attached). By holding plant sales in the Gardens, there is a very small possibility that someone might get injured at these. This risk is managed by our awareness, vigilance and by having a Public Liability Insurance policy. The benefits of the purposes are provided to those who visit the gardens (local residents, students of schools and universities, students of horticultural colleges, national and international visitors). By engaging with people of all demographics at plant sales held in the Gardens, members of FoBBG with horticultural and botanical expertise might be asked questions by the public which could conceivably lead to FoBBG members being asked to carry out gardening work for a member of the public for a fee. This would be incidental to the achievement of the purposes of FoBBG. Engagement with the public is an essential part of FoBBG's purposes.
... [more] [less]What your organisation does
Friends of Belfast Botanic Gardens (FoBBG) carries out purposes a) and b) by maintaining an ongoing programme of promotional events in Belfast Botanic Gardens for users of the Gardens, including local residents, outside visitors, schools, colleges and universities. This includes: i) giving talks to local groups on the history of the Gardens; ii)
conducting tours of the Gardens including the Tropical Ravine and Palm House, where members have volunteered in the role of 'Explainers' to educate visitors in the history and importance of the Gardens; iii) the use of social media (website (fobbg.co.uk), Facebook (Friends of Belfast Botanic Gardens) and Twitter account (FoBBG)) to inform local and other interested persons and involve them in events and information about the Gardens; iv) building and maintaining an archive database of the important tree specimens growing in the Gardens (see www.fobbg.co.uk) to educate visitors and the public; v) the development of 'The Tree Trail' as a visitor attraction within the Gardens (www.fobbg.co.uk); vi) the purchase of tree labels to enhance the botanical/horticultural appreciation of the Gardens by local and other visitors; vii) participation in regional festivals such as 'Northern Ireland Science Festival' in 2017, 2018 and 2019, to provide guided tours and botanical and horticultural workshops to educate the general public on the botanical, historical and horticultural significance of the Gardens (documents attached); viii) appointment of FoBBG members to attend stakeholder meetings (eg) the restoration of the Tropical Ravine Project; Queen's University Belfast (QUB) Neighbourhood Forum. Friends of Belfast Botanic Gardens (FoBBG) carries out purposes c) to h) by: i). holding plant sales & events, charging for events in NI Science week, selling postcards, donations from old Ravine tours, applying for grants; ii) establishing a 'Gardens Advisory Group' with BCC to advise on the botanical/horticultural development of the Gardens.
... [more] [less]The charity’s classifications
- The advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science
- Other charitable purposes
Who the charity helps
- Children (5-13 year olds)
- General public
- Men
- Older people
- Parents
- Preschool (0-5 year olds)
- Women
- Youth (14-25 year olds)
How the charity works
- Heritage/historical
