Anthony Scully and Alex Palmer Get Stuck In For EFL Day Of Action 2021

At Lincoln City Foundation we are proud to uniquely deliver a Community Organising programme in the Sincil Bank neighbourhood of Lincoln, which over the past seven years has been bringing local people together to take action around their common concerns and aspirations.

The Foundation’s Community Organising team are now part of the Place-Based Social Action (PBSA) programme in the Sincil Bank area, and the neighbourhood is one of only 10 places in the whole of England to be awarded the PBSA funding by the DCMS and the National Lottery Community Fund.

One of the most exciting projects to stem from the PBSA programme has been the development of Sincil Community Land Trust (Sincil CLT), a society that has been established to obtain and regenerate community assets in the neighbourhood. Since the groups’ establishment in 2018, the Foundation’s Community Organising team have been supporting the group, which is currently formed of residents, local councillors and representatives from the Sincil Bank area.

Today on EFL Day of Action, we want to celebrate one of the key achievements of Sincil CLT – the creation of St Andrews Garden. Sincil CLT successfully gained the lease of this former play area to bring the site back into use for the community. Prior to this, the area had been locked and gated off from local people for several years. Funding for the site was accessed from The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and has enabled the group to lease the land from the City of Lincoln Council for a twenty-five-year period.

Sincil CLT have completed consultation with local people about how the site should look, have volunteered many hours to clear the overgrown patch, have worked with contractors to add pathways and seating to the site, and have developed plans for wildflower planting to attract nature. As part of EFL Day of Action, Sincil CLT have enlisted the help of first-team Lincoln City FC players to complete the final tasks needed to open St Andrews Garden to the public.

Alice Carter, PBSA Project Manager at Lincoln City Foundation said

“Through our work listening to residents in the Sincil Bank area, a common concern which is raised is the lack of green community space. The willingness that Sincil Community Land Trust have shown to address this need and to take on such an important project for the community is fantastic. I am excited to see the site open for public use, and as we look ahead to warmer months, to see it blossoming with plants, nature and people.”

To find out more about the Place-Based Social Action project and the Sincil Bank community work at Lincoln City Foundation click here or email community@lincolncityfoundation.co.uk