The eThekwini Municipality's Community Participation and Action Support Unit will be launching the Grant-In-Aid Programme on 29 October 2009. The programme seeks to provide financial and material support to non profit organisations.

The City initiated the Grant-In-Aid programme to assist these organisations so that they can be able to address the prevailing social and economic inequalities in the community.

The Mayor, Deputy City Managers, councillors, and ward committees will be in attendance.

The Head of Community Participation and Action Support Unit, Mr Ntokozo Chonco says that the City is aware that a number of citizens are faced with numerous social challenges, hence the Municipality undertook to assist. The programme enables people to improve their own lives without relying on the government too much.

Congratulations to The Birches School that won the greening the future award last night in the schools and institutional category.  The Birches is one of the schools that benefited from the Imagine Durban green campus fund.  Attached is an article with more details.  

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Take action with us on Do It Day

On Friday, 18th September 20,000 South Africans will join forces to paint, plant, clean, read, teach, share and empower their communities. What can you do?

Do It Day is an annual GreaterGood South Africa volunteering campaign.  It's a chance to:

• Take action in your community
• Make new friends and build networks
• Contribute to the greater good of our nation 

Free Trees to Schools needs volunteers to transplant saplings into plantbags.  Tel. No. (031) 7024293 for more information.

The most exciting day in the gardeners diary is almost upon us.  The annual Botanical Society’s Indigenous plant fair takes place from 9 am – 4 pm on the 5th and 6th of Septemper, at the Munies Sports Field, John Zikhali Road (new name for Sydenham Road), Durban (just below the Botanic Gardens).  This popular indigenous plant extravaganza showcases the widest variety of indigenous plants available in Kwazulu-Natal. Experts are on hand to advise, and displays to inspire. The focus of the fair this year is Planning Your Garden.  For more information tel. 031 201 5111.

It is a bit of a bun-fight but you can get plants here that are impossible to find at nurseries and they are reasonably priced.  Planting indigenous saves water and creates habitats for insects and birds.