Pontefract Castle wins national Seeds of Change Award
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Pontefract Castle has been awarded £10,000 after winning the national Seeds of Change programme, delivered by the Association for Cultural Enterprises.
The award will support the development of From Grounds to Goods, an innovative project that will create a range of distinctive retail products inspired by Pontefract Castle using used coffee grounds from the castle’s café. Creations will be made with the support of staff, volunteers and local artist, Jane Howroyd.
"This demonstrates the creativity of our staff and volunteers.
“Securing national recognition, and external investment of £10,000, is a significant endorsement of the work taking place. The project has the potential to create distinctive new products and generate additional income which will be re-invested to keep improving the castle site for visitors in the years to come.”
Cllr Lukasz Borcz
Cabinet Member for Culture and Sport
The funding will enable the team to develop and test a range of new products and generate future retail income which can be used to make Pontefract Castle an even better place to visit.
The idea originated from a member of the castle team who began experimenting with ways to reuse coffee grounds from the recently transformed Keep Café. Initial trials resulted in the creation of seed 'cannonballs', demonstrating the potential to turn a waste product into a unique heritage-inspired retail offer.
The project will be delivered over the next 12 months, with new products expected to be on offer as development and testing progresses. Including natural pigments and dyes as well as scaling up production of the existing cannonball seed bombs.