Bolton school's secret garden among Green Spaces Fund recipients

Plans for a "secret garden" at a school and a park meadow are among 17 environmental projects across Greater Manchester to have been given a grant from a £370,000 fund.

A memorial garden commemorating people who died with coronavirus is also to receive funds in the fifth round of the Mayor of Greater Manchester's Green Spaces Fund.

Andy Burnham said it had become "increasingly apparent" that green spaces were "vital, not just for our local wildlife but our residents' health, physical and mental".

He said he was also helping to develop the first Greater Manchester plan for nature "which will be the foundation for nature recovery across the city-region".

A total of 103 projects have been awarded funds since 2022, with the aim of improving knowledge in growing food and looking after the environment.

Previous recipients including Oldham-based Northern Lily, which received national attention when their community garden won an award from the RHS and BBC's The One Show.

Daveen Wallis, co-founder of the charity Greater Manchester Environment Fund, appealed for ideas from corporate organisation, saying: "We now want to build on the brilliant progress made so far by collaborating with more partners from across the city-region, those who want to make a difference to nature."