Marking our 60th anniversary

In 2021 we celebrated our 60th anniversary and marked it by inviting local schools, community groups and residents associations to bid for small grants for projects that would enhance St Albans or provide or improve an amenity for local people to enjoy.

We sifted the applications, picked nine projects to fund and shared £6000 among them; £100 for each year of the Society’s life.

Here are the winning projects:

• Kings Road Memorial Committee to complete their fundraising for the erection of a memorial to the 15 men from the street who died in the Great War.
• Friends of Batchwood for new benches for public spaces.
• Three primary schools; Aboyne Lodge School, Margaret Wix and St Peter’s School, for creation of sensory gardens.
• Cottonmill and Nunnery Allotment Association, to help fund a wildlife survey and to construct a pond.
• Ford Garden Group, to help with maintenance of the garden in Fishpool Street.
• Friends of Victoria Playing Field, for tree-planting to help solve flooding problems.

These were all small projects run by local people working together to benefit their communities. Our grants were an enabler – a small contribution to projects that tapped initiative and had impact, so a happy way to mark our anniversary.