Brink! brings life to an urban desert in the heart of Belfast City Centre.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, DAERA, Grow NI, quarto, and Brink! - photograph taken on the Brink! site
Brink! has partnered with community organisations Grow and quarto to bring people together on the derelict Belfast Stories site to explore the varied heritages of growing and eating food through an entire growing season in this city centre location.
The aim is to turn a derelict Belfast city centre site into a thriving meanwhile space for growing food, connecting people and demonstrating what is possible in the face of climate change.
Supported by an award of £85,605 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, and £25,000 from DAERA via their Environmental Resources Policy Division, ‘A Growing Story’ will run through 2024. It will explore what can happen when we understand our city centre differently, make it grow and play, experiment and educate there.
The area surrounding this brownfield site has historically been home to the Central Library, Belfast’s newspaper district and Smithfield Market. As industries declined and moved elsewhere, the site was left abandoned and neglected, becoming a symbol of urban decay. Dereliction, poor planning, poverty and a lack of green spaces in our city centre, are pressing issues that will only get worse in the face of climate change.
The heart and soul of a city is shared in the food that it eats.
Gawain Morrison, co-founder and director of Brink!, said:
“The heart and soul of a city is shared in the food that it eats. By reconnecting with the growing, heritage and culture of our food, we can reform our connection to nature and our community. ‘A Growing Story’ will explore the use of this space, to demonstrate what can happen when we understand our city centre differently, make it grow and play, experiment and educate there. This heritage project is at the heart of Brink!’s plan to engage people of Belfast on issues that will arise from climate change.”
By exploring Belfast’s varied community heritages of food growing, cooking and eating, traditional knowledge and skills can be celebrated and promoted to build a more sustainable future and climate-resilient food systems.
Through the year, a group of diverse volunteers will work with the project team to nurture the plants, harvest and cook with them, learning from each other’s traditions and perspectives along the way. They will invite others into that conversation through public workshops and guided tours, all of which will feature sharing food together.
Heritage has a unique role in where we live, work, learn and visit.
Mukesh Sharma, Chair of The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Northern Ireland, said:
“We are thrilled that thanks to National Lottery players, we can support Brink!’s ‘A Growing Story’ project that will transform a gap site in Belfast City Centre’s urban landscape into a flourishing hub for bringing people together, growing and sharing skills and heritage.
Heritage has a unique role in where we live, work, learn and visit. This former newspaper district is now home to students attending the new university campus as well as newcomers to Northern Ireland. Over the next 12 months, activities will bring people of different backgrounds together to explore their own and the area’s heritage whilst considering the climate challenges we all face.”
Community engagement and education are key tools to enable people to live sustainably within our local environment and existing urban spaces.
Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir MLA, said:
“We all have a role to play in reducing the impact of climate change. Community engagement and education are key tools to enable people to live sustainably within our local environment and existing urban spaces.
With funding and support from my Department, the pilot Brink! project in Belfast city centre is providing a taste of what could be possible through reuse of derelict spaces. Brink! is providing opportunities and empowering people to think and act differently in terms of climate change and waste. This event is sure to be a great success and I encourage people to attend and get involved.”
Follow site progress and look out for forthcoming news of our public events via the Brink! social channels by searching for @playthinkbrink.
Brink! Stories CIC is a social enterprise set up to deliver community workshops and events around themes attached to climate change. The Brink! site will be a storytelling space to discuss, educate and act on climate change, social justice and how we adapt to a net zero society. https://www.playthinkbrink.com/
Grow nurtures connections within and between communities, and with the natural environment, through community growing spaces across Belfast. http://www.grow-ni.org/
quarto works with organisations and communities to explore how place, heritage and identity intersect and shape each other. https://www.quartocollective.com/
The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6 billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.
www.heritagefund.org.uk Follow @HeritageFundNI on Twitter/X, and Facebook and @HeritageFundUK on Instagram and use #NationalLottery #HeritageFund
DAERA
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has responsibility for food, farming, environmental, fisheries, forestry and sustainability policy and the development of the rural sector in Northern Ireland. The Department assists the sustainable development of the agri-food, environmental, fishing and forestry sectors of the Northern Ireland economy, having regard for the needs of the consumers, the protection of human, animal and plant health, the welfare of animals and the conservation and enhancement of the environment.
www.daera-ni.gov.uk/ Follow @daera_ni on Twitter/X