One of the main objectives of the Millennium Award Scheme was that projects should achieve community benefit and it is a fair to ask if a project of this nature can meets such expectations.

Some of the community benefits that  have resulted from this project are listed below.
 

The local South Side Heritage Group, who meet in the South Side Community Centre, Nicolson Street, had given me their support for the project and I was able to give some of their members an illustrated about my early results.

It is intended to give  a further talk to a larger group of members in the future.
 

Part of my project has involved learning how to create a web site. The web site for the project is hosted by VISPS, a local organisation that provides internet access for residents in Edinburgh.

The web site has the url;
http://www.microview.org.uk/millennium

Many of the images and findings of my project are on this site and I intend to add to the contents as I continue with my explorations. This web site provides the community with a resource that identifies bryophytes and buildings in the local area.
 

I have been able to use part of my award funding to produce a number of compact disks, containing an image of my web site, for free distribution within the community.

The CD will be particularly useful to those members of the community who possess a computer but do not have access to the internet.

This disk will be made available, on request, to any interested individual or organisation until supplies run out.
 

I was delighted to give an illustrated talk about my project to the Friends of the meadows and Bruntsfield Links (FoMBL) at their AGM .

For this occasion, I focussed on the bryophyte aspect of my project.

My presentation seemed to be well received and I received several requests for more information about bryophytes.

The Southside community Council  commissioned me to produced a series of posters, based on the various images that I had produced during the project.

The aim of the posters was to advertise the existence and work of the community council to local members of the public when they came to the annual Meadows Festival.

As a spin off  from this I was asked to exhibit the posters in one of our local libraries. The exhibition will take place in the Newington Library, Edinburgh in early January 2005.
 

My project has produced community benefit by sparking interest in the built and natural environment of the Southside area of Edinburgh.

I fully expect that It will continue to do so into the future but at a stately pace.