Princess Parkway and nearby schools in Hulme and Mosside will be alive with new wildflower planting after a bid by Manchester and Liverpool won £120,000 in lottery funding following a national vote.
The Tale of Two Cities Scheme aims to deliver a unique cultural landmark wildflower project in England that uses wildflowers in the UK, to turn people’s heads and hearts, and inspire new Grow Wild communities by sowing bold wild landscapes in both cities and igniting a new generation of wild flower enthusiasts.
Liverpool and Manchester will create cultural links between the two historically divided cities, starting from Everton Park in Liverpool and Hulme and Moss Side in Manchester with prominent spaces that become wild flower celebrations, connecting places and telling their stories.
Grow Wild was launched by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and is aimed at boosting the growth of UK native wildflowers.
Peter Ainsworth, chair of the Big Lottery Fund, said the collaboration between historic rivals Liverpool and Manchester was a “perfect example” of “bringing people together to improve their communities”.
The Grow Wild projects are a key part of the overall UK campaign to inspire three million people to take direct action for UK native wild flowers and get outside in their local communities.
Over the next three years, 250,000 community seed kits and over 750,000 individual packets of wild flower seeds will be given away across the UK. Groups can also apply for awards from £500-£5,000 to support more ambitious community-led schemes.
