National Wildflower Centre

The National Wildflower Centre is a small charity based in Merseyside that promotes the creation of new wildflower habitats to benefit both people and wildlife.

The Centre works to provide information and raise awareness about the importance of wildflowers encouraging people to learn about the creation and management of new wildflower habitats that they can replicate at home – which they call this creative conservation.

Lucinda Antal, Development Manager at the Centre explains in more detail.

“We run a seasonal visitor centre that showcases wildflowers in a natural environment and run quirky events and workshops delivered locally in the Merseyside region that use art and nature to inspire and motivate adults and children of all ages and abilities.

We also campaign nationally with our partners such as the Eden Project, Plantlife and the RHS to improve people’s access to nature, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.”

The National Wildlflower Centre use our free website Funding Central to search for funding and finance opportunities.

“Funding Central is a very useful source as the weekly updates remind me of approaching deadlines and alert me to trusts and sources of funding I might not know about. When I have time, I use the search function to narrow down application possibilities and to find new contacts to update on our charity. I find it easy to navigate and search through - it is clearly laid out.

Searching for funds through Funding Central has been particularly useful for finding smaller trusts, who may only give a £100 or so but several together can help get a project started and provide the match funding for the bigger players. Through this free website we’ve secured funding from a range of trusts such as the Bodfach Trust, the Lynn Foundation, the D’Oyly, Carte Foundation and the Yorkshire and Clydeside Bank.

This range of funding has enabled us to run a series of projects such as ‘Bee Beautiful’ a two year project to encourage the planting of bee friendly plants into recycled pots that participants have decorated themselves and take home with them. So far this has been delivered to over 500 participants, with fact sheets and information handed out as well.

We’ve also been able to secure funding for the ongoing ‘Flutterby Flowers’ project which has taken two years to fundraise for, mostly through small sums from smaller trusts.

The project enabled us to start work on a sensory butterfly themed garden with mosaics made with participants from the Royal School for the Blind, Mencap and home schooled children. We hope to have it completed by the end of this summer and it will provide a permanent addition to the display areas at the National Wildflower Centre, specifically tailored to engage with our disabled visitors."

Find out more about the work of the National Wildflower Centre on their website.

Vist Funding Central to see what funds are available for your organsiation.

Many thanks to Lucinda Antal, Development Manager, National Wildflower Centre.