Communigrow: Learning, Teaching, Sharing

Welcome to Communigrow, www.communigrow.org

Learning, Teaching, Sharing

food and farming in for two communities in the heart of Kent

Our charity provides learning experience for students of all ages and abilities in a varied and stimulating garden of nearly 6 acres.

We currently provide:

over 3 acres of cultivated 'market' garden for volume food production
an acre of developing natural habitat
a field 'education centre' of solar tunnel, protected space and 'pocket gardens' for schools and groups free of charge
voluntary work experience for our supporters, all local families and individuals
a growing team of voluntary amateur gardeners to provide the skills and knowledge of mostly organic or better (permaculture) growing
planned expansion of our resources on site to provide all-weather study centre, plant propagation and further skill resources in our 'Field Kitchen' and off-site in the communities of Larkfield, Ditton and Maidstone to run workshops and lead discussion of low carbon living.
further work includes accredited training and apprenticship, new conservation study and environment care through use of appropriate technology,

Pledge your support via the charities aid foundation (CAF) for gift easy gift aid and credit/debit card or paypal payments which is easy and fab as they do not take a cut of your precious pledge.

We desperately need your old seeds, pots and trays to plant up for this season. As you can imagine with that much ground to cover we need a lot!

You Donate direct via our Charities Aid Foundation page at: Communigrow donate HERE

Please search using 'communigrow' as an exact term and add a note saying "seed fund". Do not forget to complete the Gift Aid as this makes a huge difference.

Thanks

fine barrow collection

our series of summer open days were a huge success

as were our summer collection of veg

education is our core function - everything we do

our community is supportive but requires constant work

our three guiding words - Learning, Teaching, Sharing

Corporate days are a real bonus and are so much fun

All our work is of value to education, the veg, the land, the people

getting organised is often hard for a totally voluntary organisation

but, with the right focus, we may now progress towards

growing and education teams

History
Communigrow is a social enterprise started back in 2011 by student nurse Louise with help from Joining Hands. Her idea was for community growing space for schools and individuals who would not normally have the opportunity nor the skill. Communigrow did well that first year on the 1/3rd acre of the 2acres allocated by East Malling Research and their managing trust but it struggled without any co-ordination nor governance after Louise returned to her studies. Enter the idea of Community Supported Agriculture - growing to provide low carbon local food on the 5.7 acres field and Laurence Snook with the help of the Plunkett Foundation and the School for Social Entrepreneurs. This new support directly led to the new charity as it is today with the co-founder Helen Turner. Our aims are centred around providing educational facilities for schools and groups free of charge with revenue towards costs coming from donations returned from our produce which is all high quality vegetables grown sustainably using several methods without pollutants or major inputs, unlike most other more commercially grown food. These methods provide us with the educational resource that creates understanding and awareness of natural systems and a large proportion of our new land area shall be habitat forming for conservation. Again good for study of nature on site.

Support includes.......... (click on any log for further information)

Part of our new work for volunteers and opportunities for creative 'skillshare' is the great Men-in-sheds concept originating in Australia. In Kent this is a little broader in scope as 'Kent Sheds'.

also we've had support through the early months from specialists the Plunkett Foundation

and more recently the Lloyds Bank and National Lottery sponsored Fellowship 'Start-up' course at the School for Social Entrepreneurs (apply now for 2015). The year long course provides a wealth of knowledge and 'witness' examples of social enterprises to inspire confidence.