February 2015, Seed fund and pics

Seed fund - your essential help

We need small donations towards buying seeds for this season's veg, the more we can muster the more we can grow on the 5 acres now available.

Your donation may have enormous impact. We do not need much to expand our range, just £20 goes a long way for us and nothing goes on admin as we are totally voluntary. To state the obvious, without seeds we cannot grow anything!

Donate Now - click here

Without seeds or plants we can't produce much more than we have previously and progress towards feeding more local families may be slow and painful which is frustrating when we look over the expanse of grass.

So we would ask every supporter, friend and family who would like to have some of our veg to support us now so we may expand the volume and range of vegetables we grow and maybe even move into growing the fruit we are permitted to grow as well as some craft. If we raise enough we may even have hens too.

The field we rent is 5.7 acres

It is mostly hay meadow

we grew over 3 tonnes of potatoes this last season

pumpkins numbered over 120 and total weight would be nearly a tonne

this year we want up to 10 different potatoes

more pumpkins along with butternut and 'spagetti' squash

over 1000 metres of onions

some unusual crops like sweet potato and yams

just £10 means we can sow a new bed

£20 gives us enough to supply staple veg to a family for a month!

£50 would give us enough to broaden our range beyond the basics and perfect growing salads, for instance

£100 helps us maintain the box scheme for a month longer with a varied selection that people want

£250 would give us the chance to really grapple with our 'seasonal' veg and keep an interesting supply through the entire year

Without your help we can't do much more so please give generously to your means. It is now very easy and with Gift Aid we may boost your donation by about 20%.

GO TO our Charities Aid Foundation page at https://www.cafonline.org/my-personal-giving/start-giving/donate-now.aspx  and find our page by 'Communigrow' exact match. Please add a note saying "seed fund". 

Make your donation using credit/debit/paypal payment and be sure to give your name and address so we may gain your Gift Aid on your donation. That's £2 on every £10. Please note, we cannot collect gift aid on donations from vegetables.

As a reminder. We are a charity based on education on food and farming and aim to provide growing experience free of charge to schools, groups and individuals who may otherwise find it hard to gain such an opportunity. If we do not have enough funds we will grow what we can but will always be left short when we have ground to cultivate.

map and about us

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Seed fund for this season - via charities aid foundation (CAF) for gift easy gift aid

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.

https://www.cafonline.org/my-personal-giving/start-giving/donate-now.aspx

Please search using 'communigrow' as an exact term and add a note saying "seed fund" and complete for the gift aid, it really does make a difference.

Thanks

Sydenham Garden was set up with the main purpose of helping.....

another case study...... Sydenham Garden was set up with the main purpose of helping those in our local community coping with or recovering from significant illness.

Sydenham Gardens
Resource Centre, 28a Wynell Road, London, SE23 2LW

Patients are referred to the project through their GP or key worker and when at the project are known as “co-workers”; working alongside centre staff and other volunteers.
Co-workers have the opportunity to work either in the community garden and nature reserve or with our Art and Craft group. Although some opt to do both!
We make every effort to cater for the individual’s physical abilities as much as possible and tasks in the garden can range from light activities such as sowing seeds in pots, to heavier work such as digging or bricklaying.
We also provide accredited training and help with progression to further education, volunteering opportunities or reemployment.
The charity’s co-workers also have an active part in the development of the community garden and in the shaping of the project as a whole. Many also get involved in our very popular community events.
Regular social events, group trips to other community projects and visits to places of interest are also an important part of the co-worker experience at Sydenham Garden.
If you think you would like to join us as a co-worker, please have a look at our leaflet.
www.sydenhamgarden.org.uk/uploads/

About Us

Founded in 2002, Sydenham Garden is a growing, award-winning, registered charity involved in improving the health and well-being of residents living in Lewisham and Bromley.

We provide gardening and creative opportunities for co-workers (the name the project gives to our primary beneficiaries) referred from over 30 community organisations and health sector agencies.



We have developed an integrative approach where those with different degrees of mental and physical ill health come together with volunteers and members of the local community.

This approach aims to reduce exclusion and the prejudice which fuels continuing lack of opportunity for many of our beneficiaries.

As a user-centred service, co-workers and volunteers are very much involved in our decision-making processes and service delivery approach.

In 2009, we had a record number of over 60 co-workers regularly attending the project, with over 50 co-workers, volunteers and local people achieving Open College Network qualifications.

We are currently developing a significant expansion of training and work experience opportunities in the form of a market garden social enterprise.

As local support continues to grow for the charity and its invaluable work in the community, over 1500 visitors attended our ever-popular seasonal events last year.

We are always striving to be as inclusive and accessible to the community as possible.
Co-worker Activities

Co-workers take part in a range of therapeutic gardening or Art and Craft activities, depending on their interests. Co-workers set medium and long term goals (activity and health or social) and seek to achieve these during their sessions.

Garden sessions begin with the co-workers, volunteers and staff deciding what needs doing and tasks are allotted depending upon individuals’ goals.

Art and Craft sessions take place in a group and individuals complete projects such as card making, painting, felt making etc.

Throughout the year co-workers have a chance to complete accredited training courses – we have run Level 1 and Level 2 Gardening courses, Level 2 Ecology and Conservation, Level 2 Felt Making, Mosaic Making and Batik / Tie Dye.


find out more about this fab project at www.sydenhamgarden.org.uk

new festival - now every saturday 10am until 12 noon

a sort of 'Crowd research' ...... on how Local Food may lessen the impact of change and how communities may help themselves

Your help is needed

We need some help formulating some research on Climate Change. This is a social experiment - a sort of 'Crowd research'

If you may have a few minutes to spare we ask anyone with interests in research .... or anything.... to spend a few focussed minutes looking into published articles on how Local Food may lessen the impact of change and how communities may help themselves.

We welcome your input into this essential subject.
we don't ask for a lot of help at Communigrow but here's a way to boost our project from the comfort of your own home.

You do not need to be a researcher to do this! In fact we would prefer to hear back from anyone with interests, concerns, in the ways Climate Change may impact you and us all
In five minutes you could really help us, the Communigrow project, to boost our plans and message
We welcome all research, whether positive to the efforts local food initiatives may have on lessening impact OR negative too - we'd like to know opposing 'sceptical' thoughts and evidence it may not work and we are wasting our time on this focus
any time and effort is valued, younger, older, anyone! You do not need to be an expert researcher or even a project manager to do this......Instructions:
Take your fab internet connection (my own is rubbish, that's why I am asking!)
pick-up your tablet or laptop, computer or even mobile phone
Internet search (I use something like 'DogPile' as it is broader than Google though there are specialist academic research 'search engines').
Place a phrase like "local food climate change" or anything you like and see what comes up
copy and paste into an email
make a few comments on what you have found and YOUR own opinions on it, this is vital.
Please include any 'URL' in with what you found - it is vital for us to be able to refer to it.
if you enjoy doing this for the project please feel free to do the same with any subject we work with, learning, teaching, sharing, land based experiences, food, farming, conservation, local fair trade, organics, biodynamics, permaculture, natural agriculture, volunteering, social enterprise, anything related.
Send this and we'll try to work through it all. If you can help with this please get in touch too.research@communigrow.org

Many thanks in advance










You may also view all results and post all comments at.....
http://www.appropedia.org/Communigrow

Case study - Growing Well in Kendal

another case study...... Growing Well in Kendal has focus on therapeutic horticulture and runs a thriving local box scheme with over 100 members

Growing Well
Low Sizergh Farm, Kendal, Cumbria, LA8 8AE

About Us

Growing Well provides local people with mental health problems with an effective, supportive and inclusive farm-based community. We support people to improve their mental wellbeing by involving them in a range of activities within our organic growing business.


Our participants organically farm 6 acres of Low Sizergh Farm running a Crop Share scheme that supplies 80 local families with weekly seasonal veg. We are a City and Guilds centre and train our participants and local people in horticulture at levels one, two and three. We also run a successful programme of school workshops and farm visits that teach children about food growing and how to stay mentally and physically well. We work cooperatively, encouraging our participants to take on a range of responsibilities within the organisation, including membership of our board of directors.

The following link shows a three minute film which shows the impact for one our participants of their involvement in our activities.

Growing Well is CEVAS accredited for managing people on farms and is a City and Guilds centre for learning. We were named British Rural Enterprise of Year in 2011, won the North-West Award for Sustainable Food and Farming in 2008, were awarded Cumbrian Social Enterprise in 2008, 2009/2010 and were the North-West winner in the 2010 Social Vision Awards.

Our work in mental health recovery is supported by a grant from Ecominds, and our education and outreach work is supported by a grant from Local Food, both which administer funds from the Big Lottery.Our Ethos

Our volunteers, students, staff and visitors find Growing Well to be a special and inspiring place and certain aspects of the way we work make Growing Well unique.


Our staff are passionate and enthusiastic and create an environment which is welcoming and accessible. We operate as flexibly as possible and ensure that everyone that is involved with Growing Well is treated equally.

We aim to involve our volunteers in all the activities we undertake, and through supervisions and team meetings ensure everyone is appropriately involved in decision making. We also actively encourage our volunteers to become members of Growing Well, to attend Annual General Meetings and to nominate themselves as directors.Our Legal Structure And Charitable Status

Growing Well is an Industrial and Provident Society (IPS) for the Benefit of the Community (registration number 29680R). As such we are a corporate entity, with limited liabilities for our members, regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

The rules of our society strictly determine how we must operate, ensuring our assets are held for the good of the community in perpetuity. Our objects are charitable and we are recognised as a tax exempt charity by the Inland Revenue (number XR76204).

The IPS legal structure was chosen deliberately by our founding directors so that membership and control of Growing Well could be offered to local community members (particularly our volunteers). As at the close of 2010, we have 120 members.Horticulture Team

Our Horticulture Team manages our organic growing business, undertaking all the tasks across our ten-acre site. There is always a variety of jobs to be done, no matter what time of year it is, and each day our volunteers divide up into small teams and set to work.


We tackle everything from seed-sowing and planting, to harvesting and packing produce, and new volunteers quickly learn how to do tasks with the support of fellow participants. We provide regular training, both formally and informally, to make sure the team knows how to work, and experienced team members will provide supervision on more complex tasks such as packing orders or using farm machinery. Our tractor driving courses are always over subscribed and some team members become expert at harrowing beds or using planting machinery.

Working in the fields can provide a great sense of accomplishment and wellbeing, seeing the the plants you've grown become food for seventy households. Education Team

Providing support to school visits at Growing Well can be an enjoyable way to get used to meeting people and building up your confidence to take on new challenges.


Our Education Team accompanies school visits around the farm, helping children to explore the food growing and farming activities we have to offer. For those with an aptitude or interest in working with children this can be a very rewarding introduction to work.

All our educational visits are led by trained facilitators and supported by our volunteers. The team receives on going support and training and ideally will have some experience working within our horticultural activities.Farm Visits

Schools love a day out at Growing Well and Low Sizergh Farm learning about food and farming and healthy eating.


At Growing Well children can sow seeds and pick organic vegetables, learning how the food they eat is grown, picked and reaches their plate.

This can be combined with a visit to the diary farm meeting the calves and collecting the eggs from the hen houses. Our hands on activities are always enjoyed by pupils, teachers and parents!Workshops

Our Food Education team can come into your school or community group to provide fun and stimulating Food Workshops.


Workshops can be adapted to suit your school topic and the age group of pupils from Nursery to Key Stage Four.

Activities can include; farming and the landscape, origins of food (local and global), food miles, food groups, healthy eating & balanced diet, food choices, organic food, food tasting (fresh and processe).We can also create a specialist workshop to meet a particular topic area or interest.Community Outreach

If you are looking to inspire your class or community group in food growing, our team can bring Growing Well to you.


Help with raised beds, preparing a vegetable garden or a basic taster session can all be provided, and our experienced faciltiators will always do their best to create a day that meets your group's requirements.

If you are holding a community or educational event our team can also bring their stand to you, to offer seed sowing activities, growing information and food games.

find out more about this fab project at http://www.growingwell.co.uk/