A community allotment will be set up in Braithwaite with the help of a £9,900 lottery grant.

Groups from across Keighley will be encouraged to help build and plant the large site on existing Keighley Town Council allotment land off North Dean Road.

The project, spearheaded by Bracken Bank and District Community Association, will be launched with an open day on Saturday June 14.

Visitors can try activities such as foraging, fire pit cooking, pre-school fun, ‘grow your own’, and building bird, hedgehog and bat boxes.

The aim of the day is to introduce people to the site and encourage them to share their ideas or sign up to the project.

Draft plans will be available to see, and there will be a free barbecue.

Pip Gibson, community worker with the association, said several action days were planned through the summer and autumn to support the building of the allotment.

She said: “We will purchase tools, equipment and materials, look towards setting up a steering group, and offer training such as first aid to community volunteers.

“The allotment will be a community asset, open to all, and we believe it will bring health, environment and community benefits.

“In the longer term the project will work with residents, schools and charities so they can become skilled at growing their own food, learn more about sustainable living and healthy eating, encouraging adventurous play, and form a true connection with nature.”

The ’grow your own’ project will aim to involve local people, families, community groups and gardeners.

Planned facilities include small growing spaces for individuals in “bulk bags’, larger spaces for groups, a polytunnel, a green Alpine roof and a community shelter clad with mini-beast walls.

There may also be an outdoor cooking area, a reading circle, a Fairy Glade, a sensory bird and butterfly garden, animal boxes, a bird hide, bird feeding area, pond and bog garden.

Completing the site could be an orchard, wildflower meadow, herb garden, and foraging corridor with fruits, nuts and berries.

The open day begin at 11am. The project is funded by the Big Lottery Awards For All Programme.

Anyone wishing to get involved in the project should contact Pip Gibson on 07587 210101.