Help us raise £50,000 to build the Green Barn, an all-weather space for environmental learning, wellbeing and community activities next to Edgbaston Reservoir!
Over the past seven years, we have worked hard to transform a derelict and inaccessible playing field next to Edgbaston Reservoir into a welcoming place where people can connect with nature, improve their wellbeing, learn new skills and spend time together.
The Green Barn is the next chapter in that journey. It has been shaped by the ideas, experiences and aspirations of the people who use, care for and love the Nature & Wellbeing Centre. Through conversations with local residents, families, volunteers, community groups and visitors, we’ve developed a shared vision for a space where even more people can connect all year round.
The Green Barn is the ‘final piece of the jigsaw’ completing developments on site. You can find out more about the plans for the Green Barn here.
Why another building?
Our Nature & Wellbeing Centre has become a much-loved place for so many people to connect, learn, grow and spend time outdoors. However, as more residents, community groups, families and schools discover the site, our spaces are struggling to keep up – we don’t always have the room to say yes!
At the moment, we lack a permanent covered space that allows our community activities to continue comfortably all year round.
Wet weather, winter conditions and increasingly frequent periods of extreme heat can limit existing usage. The Green Barn will replace temporary structures creating a welcoming, flexible activity space where people can meet, learn, create and take part in activities come rain or shine!
Our Red Shed Community Café has become the heart of the site, but it is increasingly stretched. It often needs to double as an activity space, limiting its ability to serve as a café and putting pressure on staff.
Crucially, the Green Barn will make our site more accessible and inclusive. It will provide vital shade and shelter for vulnerable people, children, older people, people with health conditions and those who may need additional support.
It will also provide office space for staff and volunteers – anyone who has been inside our current office in the Red Shed has probably seen how cramped we are!
We have planning permission in place, architects plans drawn up – we now just need funding to make it all happen!
We are seeking to raise £50,000 through our Green Barn Crowdfunder towards the construction of the Green Barn, the final phase of development at Birmingham Settlement’s Nature and Wellbeing Centre.
This crowdfund forms part of a wider fundraising effort – we have already secured £111,000 through the Pride in Place Fund and are actively pursuing additional support from trusts and foundations, social investment, fundraising events, corporate partners and our own funds. In total, we need to raise £450,000 to make it all happen!
And we think we can…but we need your help!
We are calling on you, our community, to be part of this journey with us.
Perhaps you are a centre user, enjoy visiting the Red Shed for a coffee, walking your dog on the field, finding tranquility in nature, taking part in activities or events. Maybe you are from a company that has joined us for your team volunteering day, a funder or a partner, a local resident or business wanting to do more for the neighbourhood.
We invite you all to build the Green Barn with us.
At the heart of the Green Barn will be a unique community pizza oven and Birmingham-sourced brick chimney – a place where people of all ages will gather to cook, learn, celebrate and spend time together. We hope it will become one of the most loved features of the Nature & Wellbeing Centre with a real story to tell, bringing neighbours together over shared meals, community events and outdoor learning.
Sponsor a brick!
This special feature tells the story of the people who helped bring the Green Barn to life – and we’d love you to be part of it!
Each brick will be engraved with your name or message, representing the individuals, families, organisations and businesses who came together to make the Green Barn possible, creating a lasting legacy and reminder of the community that sit at the heart of the space.
If a brick isn’t for you, all donations no matter the size are so gratefully appreciated!
There are many other rewards available via our crowdfund page too, including wellbeing days, an invite to the Green Barn launch party and more!