Seeds of Joy

Chapel Street Park is the oldest park in Levenshulme, near Manchester, and is a green space surrounded by terraced housing and flats, most of which don’t have gardens of their own. The local Friends of the Park group have grand plans for the former bowling green that’s in desperate need of some restoration, and they aim to transform the space into a sunshine-inspired community garden with areas dedicated to vegetable growing, wildlife and wellbeing.

Find out more at https://friendsofchapelstreetpark.wordpress.com/

Grange Farm Primary School are looking to create a Community Growing Garden in their school grounds in Coventry. With over 400 students from diverse family backgrounds, they hope that the growing garden will help bring their school community together and act as a space for learning, friendship and cultivation. Not only will the space be used for teaching but it will be open for families and neighbours to enjoy the physical and emotional benefits of spending time outdoors too.

Find out more at: www.grangefarmschool.co.uk

Creating a dedicated veg patch in an area of Streatham Common Community Garden in London, The Little Growers Club will encourage young children from local primary schools to grow veggies, not only for themselves, but local food banks too. Educating little ones on how plants and vegetables grow, alongside demonstrating how they can be harvested and turned into delicious meals is an important part of this garden, alongside the teaching of team-work, leadership skills and an appreciation of nature and wildlife.

Find out more at: http://www.the-taste-buds.co.uk/thelittlegrowersclub

The Oaks Meadow Project is a registered charity in Suffolk that working on a two-phase project including the development of a green space consisting of woodland, orchard and vegetable gardens for quiet reflection and woodland play as well as a base for community projects that benefit all residents of all ages, including those who are vulnerable. With a team of enthusiastic local volunteers, they hope that the project will encourage people to get more in touch with the land and learn along the way too.

Find out more at: http://www.combsvillage.org.uk/oak-meadow/

Run by the charity, R.I.S.E, the Brighton Women’s Refuge houses women and families who have fled domestic abuse. Offering an outdoor space for independent reflection as well as group and therapeutic sessions, the community veg and wildlife garden will offer a safe space in which residents can socialise and enjoy the great outdoors. Promoting healthy lifestyles and educating residents is also an important role that the garden will play, as well as giving the women a sense of belonging and community.

Find out more at: www.riseuk.org.uk

Based amongst three large social and ex-social housing estates in Nottingham, Bestwood Park Church is a hub within its community, already creating and distributing fresh food parcels for local residents. The team are now keen utilise its green spaces for the benefit of the local community too – providing a space for people to socialise in and work together on, nurturing a shared veg garden that cultivates fresh and healthy produce for residents to benefit from.

Found out more at: https://m.facebook.com/BestwoodParkChurchNottingham/

A small rural primary school in the heart of Somerset, Curry Mallet School has set up its own Gardening Club that meet once a week and abide by the values of health, wealth (of knowledge) and happiness. With a bee garden and veg patch already on site, the club’s members have been busy growing all sorts of fresh fruit and veg but are now keen to create a series of new raised beds as well as a herb, flower and tea garden for pupils, parents and teachers to nurture and enjoy.

As a part of a wide project inspired by the Circular Economy, CircularityGROW is a network of two community allotments stretched across Derbyshire and Staffordshire. Looking to grow and incorporate other allotments into the project and develop veg gardens in innovative and interesting ways, they aim to provide a safe space to meet, talk, relax and develop new interests. The project also aims for the local community to directly benefit from healthy produce as well as the mental wellbeing from spending time in nature.

Find out more at: www.circularity.org/grow

A housing estate in North Kensington in West London, the project at Lancaster West Estate aims to transform a neglected green space into a community allotment that provides residents with the opportunity to grow their own veg, that can then be taken to community cooking classes which will educate on healthy eating choices. Alternatively, produce will be donated to local food banks or community kitchens. The local community will also benefit from ‘Let’s Get Growing Sessions’ which provide insight to seasonal food growing.

Find out more at: www.wearew11.org

A large primary school in Birmingham, Hillstone School is dedicated to promoting healthy eating and lifestyle choices and aims to create a balanced diet right across the school day. Vegetables and their production are at the heart of the school food culture and dedicated space has been provided to promote the growing of veggies – it’s now a case of transforming it into an area that students can enjoy and learn from, seeing the journey from seed to harvest and benefitting from produce which will be utilised to make delicious school meals.

Find out more at: https://www.hillstone.org.uk/children/our_allotment.html