Growingplacesspring2014

• WorkingwiththewholecommunityatRainbow CommunityGarden,Hull

• OrganisingsuccessfulCSRevents

• Get-GrowingwithCwmHarry,Powys

• Germination-sharingcommunitygardening skillsinEdinburgh

Members’magazine,Spring2014

GrowingPlaces

Page �

ContentsNews 3 - 5

Corporate Social Responsibility activities

6 - 7

Rainbow Community Garden, Hull

8

Get-Growing with Cwm Harry, Powys

9

Members - news in brief 10 - 11

Germination - a new network

1�

Events and networking 13

Management 14

Resources 15

Funding and opportunities 16

Loan finance advice 17

Funding, training and other opportunities

16 - 17

Member services and FCFCG contact details

18 - 19

SouthWestEngland:Growing Roots CIC • PEaT Project (Plant, Eat and Teach) • Transition Minehead and Alcombe • Trinity Community Garden • Youth Community Project - Broadwindsor Allotment GroupSouthEastandEasternEngland: Grow and Eat • Barracks Lane Community Garden • Herts and Essex Community Farm • Trust Links - Growing TogetherLondon:Appa ‘Life’ Farm • Core Landscapes Community Plant Nursery • Cultivate London • Food From the Sky • John Evelyn Community Garden • St Mary’s Secret Garden

TheMidlands:Arena Community Garden - Flourish Project • Coventry City Council - Parks Service • Great Malvern Primary School • Transition Worcester • Wolverley Allotment Society • Wooden Spoon Farm NorthernEngland:Gibside Community Farm • Veterans Response • Greenslate Community Farm • Sacred Heart City Farm • Grow Allerton and Lower Grange • H.O.P.E Community Allotment • Knottingley and Ferrybridge Community Garden ProjectNorthernIreland:Foyle Community Gardening Initiative • Friends of Antrim Castle Grounds • Glengormley Community Garden • Muddy Minds • New Mossley Allotments • Raceview Allotments Association

Scotland• Broomhill Gardens Community Group • Forth Environment Link • Gartmorn Dam Sunken Garden • Lorn Organic Growers Wales:Cardiff University Allotment Society • Community Food Coops in Wales • Down to Earth Project • Dwyfor Growing Spaces • Friends of Narberth Pool • Growing Ruabon • Llais y Goedwig • Pembroke �1C Community Association • Student Digs • The Colour of Wales • The Havens Community Allotments and Garden

Insidethisissue

We now have 638 members. A warm welcome to all

those that have joined since the last issue.

Welcome to the spring issue of Growing Places �014.

It’s been a tough winter and this year spring’s arrival feels more welcome than ever. Hopefully you’re enjoying some lovely spring sunshine and welcoming new arrivals - whether animal or vegetable - on your project.

In this issue, two long-established members share the secrets of running successful corporate social responsibility events. Both members have gained a reputation as providers of these services and generate significant income as a reward for their efforts.

Rainbow Community Garden in Hull has had great success working with the Traveller community. Their partnership is a good example of how the community-mix to be found at growing projects can help break

down prejudice and integrate hard-to-reach groups.

And appropriately for spring, we hear how, as a way of supporting and learning from each other, a group of growers got together to form Edinburgh’s own community gardening skill-share network: Germination.

The copy date for the summer issue is 9 May. Please send your news to the Editor: [email protected]

On the cover and above: Spring lambs at St James City Farm, Gloucester © Reyaz Limalia

Newmembers

News

We hope you enjoy your complementary packet of

sweet pea seeds enclosed with this issue of Growing Places, courtesy of Kings Seeds. As part of our commitment to increase benefits for our members, FCFCG is seeking to negotiate discounts on a selection of goods and services that might be of interest to members. Here are the details of deals secured so far.

KingsSeedsKings Seeds was established more than 1�5 years ago and is now the oldest independent wholesale horticultural seed merchant in the UK. We have teamed up with Kings Seeds to offer some great discounts exclusive to FCFCG members.

Currently there are two offers available:

• Seed orders - A 45% discount promotion to FCFCG members on orders of seeds over £35. These are plain-packet seeds for use by the member group themselves.

• Seed display stands - A 50% discount on seed display stands, similar to those seen in garden centres. Members of FCFCG buy colourful, pictorial seed packets direct from Kings at half the recommended price and use an on-loan display

stand to offer them for sale to customers.

ThomasEttySeedsThomas Etty Seeds, a heritage seed company, are also offering our members a 30% discount on any orders over £40.

BulldogTools

We have also teamed up with Bulldog Tools to offer a discount on their range of high quality gardening tools.

FCFCG members are now eligible for a total discount of �5% on Bulldog’s list price – which is a further 10% discount on top of that available online through

Bulldog’s UK distributors, Quality Garden Tools. See: www.qualitygardentools.com/brand-Bulldog/brandview

We hope to be able to offer further discounts from other companies in the near future. Members will be notified of these in our regular e-news bulletins.

For details of how to take advantage of all current offers, including the offers from Bulldog Tools and Thomas Etty Seeds, please visit the members updates section of our website.

www.farmgarden.org.uk/members-updates

We use Twitter to raise the profile of community growing groups in the UK

directly to media contacts, other community-sector organisations and the public. www.twitter.com/fcfcg

Our facebook page is a great place to find out what other groups are up to, catch up

on FCFCG events, network and raise the profile of your group.

www.facebook.com/fcfcg.uk

We are on Youtube and Vimeo. www.farmgarden.org.uk/videos And you can share your photos with FCFCG and other members.

Join the FCFCG group on Flickr.

FCFCGSocialMedia

Newbenefitsformembers

News

TributetoMorganParryA key member of the team at the Community Land Advisory Service, Cymru, Morgan Parry sadly died in January.

Katie Jones, who manages CLAS Cymru on behalf of FCFCG said: “We are all very saddened to hear about Morgan, who was an extremely valued member of our CLAS team in Wales and a leading figure in the environmental sector in Wales. He will be greatly missed by us all and our thoughts go out to his family.”

Mr Parry was appointed to the board of Natural Resources Wales in November �01�, and was chair of the Countryside Council for Wales, from �010 to �013. Earlier in his career he was director of the North Wales Wildlife Trust, and spent a decade managing country parks, nature reserves and visitor attractions for Gwynedd Council.

Morgan was a former board member of Friends of the Earth, and a member of the Environment Agency’s north Wales area committee. He established the Wales office of WWF in �000 and led the organisation until �009. He was also chair of Cynnal Cymru, the sustainable development forum for Wales.

FCFCG has teamed up with Aquaponics UK and Humble by Nature, a rural education centre, to launch Wales’s first ever Aquaponics educational resource centre in Monmouthshire.

The project will explore whether Aquaponics could be a viable option for future community food production, with the system in development aiming to produce around 250 kgs of fish a year and 30 kgs of vegetables a week.

Aquaponics is a marriage between aquaculture (the cultivation of fish and other aquatic organisms) and hydroponics (growing plants without soil in nutrient-rich water). The efficient system means

nutrient-rich fish waste feed the plants, which in turn purify the water ready to pump back into the fish tanks.

If you are interested in or currently involved with Aquaponics please contact: [email protected]

FCFCGWalesfloatsnewAquaponicsventure

Above: Children learning about aquaponics at Moffat CAN, FCFCG member in Southern Scotland.

Winter is usually the quiet season for community growers, but not in Scotland this year. The FCFCG team have responded to several queries from people wanting to start community farms. With interest from Glasgow, Fife and Leith so far, there are now plans to run joint training in the future with Care Farming Scotland. The team will also be working with housing associations in Aberdeen and Glasgow to help them introduce community growing projects for their residents.

At a national policy level, the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill consultation could give communities the right to buy abandoned or neglected land, the right to run public services, the pre-emptive right to buy urban land, and includes all sorts of new regulations about allotments and community growing spaces: to improve protection, place a duty

on councils to provide such sites and require local authorities to produce Food Growing Strategies.

FCFCG and CLAS Scotland held a very well attended event in December in Glasgow to get feedback from our members before responding to the consultation. The next stage is to give evidence to the Local Government and Regeneration Committee once the Bill has been laid before Parliament.

The Scottish team also helped two Edinburgh member projects prepare their case for concessionary lets to present to Edinburgh Council’s Finance and Resources Committee. The hearing took place in January and they won! Now community growing projects in poorer parts of Edinburgh will not be charged rent, which is fantastic news!

[email protected]

AllgrowinScotland...

Image credit: Natural Resources Wales

News

Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens’ assistant CEO Ian Egginton-Metters was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours list, in recognition of his contribution to city farming which stretches back more than 30 years.

He first became involved in city farming in 1980 and went on to run the national Federation until �000, before helping develop a number of partnerships including Care Farming UK, the School Farms Network, Growing Schools and Access to Farms.

His interest in the therapeutic and educational benefits of farming and gardening began in the 70s, when he was an agriculturalist at a leprosy hospital in India where patients ran a 350-acre farm. He returned to the UK and worked with people with learning

difficulties before being inspired to get involved in social change. He went on to help pull together the City Farms for Greater Manchester Group, which proved instrumental in the formation of Wythenshawe and Clayton City Farms.

Ian said he was pleased to receive the award, as it would help highlight the work of the city farms and community gardens movement: “Hundreds of people in the city farming movement deserve recognition for their work, and I hope that this award helps in some small way to increase the recognition of city farming.

“Over the years it has been humbling to work with inspirational and committed people who have battled many difficulties to create a movement that has a tremendous track

record for sustainable community-managed garden/farm-based activities.

“The need today is just as it was in the early 70s, and although challenges change, there are thousands of people contributing to their local communities, benefitting millions of people in a myriad of ways – as a result I remain inspired to continue working alongside them.”

FCFCG’sIanEgginton-MettersawardedOBE

FCFCGexploresHullmobilefarmplansFCFCG has been working with Hull City Council to explore the potential for an ‘urban box farm’ designed to be completely mobile and self-sufficient in all features. The mobile farm would be set up as a ‘meanwhile’ plot on a development site in Hull city centre and could be moved when the developer needs to regain the site. Formed of shipping containers, the box farm could include polytunnels, a moveable pig pen, a café and shop.

The idea was first raised as part of the Hull City Plan, with the aim of

helping to address food poverty and promote health and well-being.

FCFCG presented the findings of a feasibility study commissioned by the council at a council meeting in January and made a further presentation to the council leadership board in February. You can download the study from: www.farmgarden.org.uk/news

You can also find out more and see images of the proposed design at the ‘Rooted in Hull’ website: www.rootedinhull.org.uk

CommunitygardeninginEuropeAs part of an exciting EU Lifelong Learning project to improve training available for community garden organisers, FCFCG is working with organisations in France, Italy, Germany and Austria to research the current ‘state of play’ of community gardening in Europe.

The project will assess both training needs and training currently on offer in each country, and will trial the adaptation of a vocational course designed in France for use in each country. In England this will be delivered in Bristol in September �014.

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Members

Running Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities

can be a great way of getting work done around your site, bringing in extra income and developing relationships with local businesses. Meanwood Valley Urban Farm in Leeds and the Lambourne End Centre for Outdoor Learning in Essex have both developed successful CSR programmes. Robert Paige, Education Officer at Meanwood and Tony Sharps, Lambourne’s Farm and Site Manager, share their tips on best practice and the benefits and challenges of running CSR activities on site.

MeanwoodValleyUrbanFarmEstablished in 1980 to provide services to inner city communities in Leeds, this �4 acre site is a working farm with a variety of animals and a major centre for community and environmental work.

Keyfactsandfigures• CSR activities brought in

approximately £4,000 in �013• On average, two groups take

part each month, clocking up around 1,�00 CSR hours in �013

• The farm charges a minimum of £�00 per day per group

• ExamplesofCSRactivities:Making a cycle skills track, creating a hibernaculum, pond-digging, tree-planting, coppicing, creating footpaths and wildflower meadows.

Background

“Our CSR work has really developed over the last five years. It started when we were approached by some corporate groups and has grown from there.

“We offer a mixture of longer-term projects and day workshops and have also had two companies on one or two year contracts who send staff to us one day a month, so that everyone in the company gets a turn.

“One of these groups is Rosemont Pharmaceuticals, a local company which has been working on a field we wanted to develop. The field has been exclusively theirs to work on, and they have even integrated the project into their staff appraisal and development process.

“The land was an abandoned field which the group have planted up into woodland with a geological trail running through it. The staff feel connected to the project and can see the difference they’ve made – they even came along for a family BBQ and picnic day. Rosemont have paid us about £8,000 for the CSR work and the field is now an educational resource and attraction for the farm.”

Robert’stopthreetips:• Do charge for businesses to

take part in CSR activities. It’s not as simple as a company

providing free labour - you need to organise and oversee it and cover any costs for materials and equipment. You can also make it a better experience for participants if you charge.

• Safety is key. You’re often working with sharp tools and heavy objects and people may not know how to use them. We do a proper risk assessment and briefing.

• Keep it fairly simple and make sure there’s a mix of heavy and light tasks for all abilities.

LambourneEndCentreforOutdoorLearningA 54-acre site offering farm, environmental and adventure activities to both voluntary and private organisations. Activities aim to build self-esteem, confidence, social skills and raise aspirations.

Keyfactsandfigures• Lambourne End generate

£30-40,000 per year from CSR activities

• There are currently 3 corporate groups particpating.

• The centre charges an average £50 per person per day and

CorporateSocialResponsibility(CSR)actvities

Members

CorporateSocialResponsibility(CSR)actvitiesoffer a healthy lunch made using farm and garden produce

• Examples of CSR activities: Building wheelchair-friendly paths, constructing shelters for archery and climbing centres, making fences, weeding, clearing areas, planting trees and any other jobs needed around site

Background

“We started offering CSR activities 1� years ago and it has built up partly by word of mouth and partly through the East London Business Alliance (ELBA) which is a broker for CSR placements. Our large site and our proximity to East London does give us an advantage in terms of attracting big corporate firms (clients have included Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley) and being able to work with large groups. O2 once sent out a group of 3�7 people for a day, but we also work with as few as six people.

“We usually offer day-long activities, sometimes we have different groups visit over three consecutive days. If we have a very big group we split them up into teams, usually with a maximum of 15 to each supervisor. The feedback we get is that people find it very satisfying working with colleagues in a different environment, and they like seeing that they’ve made a difference. Some groups have been coming to us for eight or nine years now.”

Tony’stopthreetips:• Choose jobs that are achievable

within the time-frame and always let people know why they are doing the work and who will benefit, so even if

they’re just weeding the car-park they know there is a benefit and a reason to what they’re doing.

• You can use brokers like Business In The Community (BITC) to link up with businesses looking for placements, but bear in mind they may charge for setting up the link, or charge the company which will reduce their budget.

• Give very clear instructions and supervise closely so people can’t get confused. We’ve had people put in a fence upside down, and another guy who was clearing brambles and got carried away and cleared a whole load of berry bushes that were growing along a fence!

For further information:

Lambourne End Centre for Outdoor Learning: www.lambourne-end.org.uk

Meanwood Valley Urban Farm: www.mvuf.org.uk

Business In the Community: www.bitc.org.uk

East London Business Alliance: www.elba-1.org.uk

NewcrowdfundingcampaigntosetupUKCSANetworkCommunity Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a partnership between a producer and consumer based on shared risk and responsibility. The consumer commits to buy weekly produce from that particular CSA scheme and in return they have access to social and educational events and volunteering on the farm. It’s about relationships, between people, the producer and the land, and is based on a sustainable business model.

Last December people from CSA’s all over the UK gathered in Stroud to launch an independent UK CSA network. The aim of the network is to support the existing CSA movement, establishing nationwide regional hubs, promoting CSA to the UK public and organising an annual national gathering. There was a big buzz on the day about what CSA could achieve in the future. CSA’s in the UK currently number around �00, but there is capacity for thousands in the future.

Please support a new crowd funding campaign to launch the network on: www.buzzbnk.org - and please promote the campaign if you can.

To find out more about CSA go to: www.soilassociation.org/ communitysupported agriculture or contact: [email protected]

Members

The Rainbow Community Garden has developed a

successful partnership with the Traveller education department at Hull City Council, resulting in many Traveller children taking part in activities at the garden. The partnership is a good example of how the community-mix to be found at growing projects can help break down prejudice and integrate hard-to-reach groups.

The 0.07 hectare site was the first community garden in Hull and opened in October 1998 on abandoned land in the centre of a council estate. In �004 the group won a 99 year lease for the site, which now contains raised beds, wildlife areas, a nature trail and sensory garden.

The project works closely with the NHS to run sessions for people with special needs and mental health problems and holds free family activities. It has won a Green Flag award for the past two years and has recently been awarded £10,000 per year for three years by the Rank Foundation.

The relationship between the garden and the Traveller Education Team began in �004, when Diane Waller, the team’s outreach support officer, started to take three Traveller boys along to the garden. Diane explains: “The boys were having difficulties in school and were close to exclusion. When they came to the project, they got involved with gardening, painting and other duties and were made welcome by everybody.

“This proved very successful for them and led us to take other students to the garden. The Traveller community is very tight-knit and not always keen to let

strangers in, so to let the children go somewhere different and out of the comfort zone is a big step.”

Taking part in activities at the garden has provided training and work experience, leading one Traveller girl to earn her volunteer certificate, and has also helped those who struggle at school.The children’s involvement also meant that their families, some of whom were living on the nearby estate but were isolated from the community around them, began to visit the garden and attend activities. This helped build understanding and communication between different groups of people.

Jeannie Webster, the garden co-ordinator, said: “At the garden, everybody mixes. One of the key principles is that everybody’s equal here - everyone is to be treated the same. We held a Christmas table decoration workshop last year and one of the education team brought along a �0-year-old Traveller girl. At the beginning she said ‘I can’t do anything like this’ but she stayed for several hours in the end. It was a mixed group of volunteers, people with learning disabilities and mental health issues and

the Traveller girl, all talking and laughing. You can’t put a price on that.”

The garden does not charge the council for children attending the garden but does refer to the work in general funding bids.

Jeannie’sadviceforothergroups• The key to gaining trust and

bringing people back to the garden over time is building a relationship step by step.

• I always invite the key workers along first so that they can look round the garden and tell their client what it’s like.

• We make sure that the client’s first visit to the garden takes place during a quiet time so we can show them round and find out what activities they’re interested in. I leave it up to them as to whether they want to come back.

• They then come in to work on an activity that suits them, whether that’s growing or a task like painting. We gradually introduce them to the other people at the site and open it up for them to take part in the bigger activities.

For further information contact: [email protected]

RainbowCommunityGarden,Hull

Members

Get-Growing is a new project in Powys, Wales set up

under the arm of the Cwm Harry enterprise family. Get-Growing aims to involve people within Powys with their local food economy and increase the amount of food grown and eaten within its borders.

The Get-Growing project has attracted three years’ worth of revenue funding from the Big Lottery Fund. Their mission is to develop three community garden spaces, work with 1� schools to enhance opportunities for growing and connect with 50 organisations as well as �,100 people. So far the team have been busy getting their hands dirty setting up two new community gardening spaces, the first at Pen Dinas in Newtown and the second in Llanidloes.

The �½ acre site at Pen Dinas located behind Coleg Powys in Newtown was designed by students on a ‘How to Design a Community Garden’ course in �01�. It is made up of a market garden, micro-allotments, forest garden, plant nursery an experimental growing area

and a composting station. The garden also includes a community kitchen, a low impact roundhouse and a fire pit.

As the garden develops it is being widely used by several community groups who take advantage of its impressive facilities. The garden’s location means that students from Coleg Powys are involved with work placements and help develop enterprise schemes.

Get-Growing’s second site is located in the heart of Llanidloes behind the local hardware shop. One of the main aims is to provide local people with the opportunity to grow food where they live.

To kick start the garden design Get-Growing held a public consultation in September with local residents and potential plot holders. This was followed by a five day intensive design course focusing on permaculture design, site surveying and scale drawing. Co-ordinators are now getting stuck into building raised beds and laying the foundations, including micro allotments, a field kitchen and a fire pit.

Plans for Get-Growing’s third community garden are now underway with possible sites emerging in Welshpool and Llanfyllyn. Coordinators are working with the Community Land Advisory Service Cymru to try to secure the necessary land agreements.

To date Get-Growing has worked with 9 schools and over 50 organisations, engaging 1,500 people with the project by organising a range of training and other events. One example

is the ‘Get-In!’ an initiative which appeals to young people between the ages of 16 and 19 from Newtown and the surrounding area, by giving them the opportunity to tell Get-Growing exactly what they want to eat.

Get-Growing’s runs a packed events programme with a variety of courses focusing on a range of topics - horticulture, basket making, permaculture design, biochar production and many more. Every Wednesday morning volunteers are invited to the Pen Dinas garden, given a guided tour of the site and asked to stay and help grow their own food.

Get-Growing is a fantastic example of a community project motivating and inspiring their local communities to get involved with food by empowering them to take some responsibility for growing their own. They’re getting their hands dirty establishing publicly accessible community gardens which act as a catalyst for people to discover the wonders of growing and sharing home-grown produce.

www.get-growing.org.uk

Get-GrowingwithCwmHarry

EdinburghCollegegardenersscoopnationalaward

Edinburgh College is celebrating after winning a national award recognising the outstanding contribution made by its community garden to the well-being needs of the college and the local community.

The community garden won first place in the Health and Wellbeing category at the College Development Network Annual Awards (CDNAA). The judges were impressed with the far-reaching effects and benefits of the garden, from the positive impact on sustainability for the college as a whole to the improved mental, physical and emotional health of the gardeners.

Based at the college’s Milton Road campus, the garden was established in September �01� to transform an area of previously unused land into a green space for staff, students and the local community to enjoy the outdoors and work together to grow plants, vegetables and fruit. The main aim of this was to encourage a healthier lifestyle, promote outdoor activity and encourage a more environmentally friendly way of producing food locally.

In the short period since the opening of the green space, the community garden has come on leaps and bounds, with more than 160 students, staff and

community groups using the facilities. Fifty individuals grow their own fruit and vegetables in the garden’s plots while groups such as Sikh Sanjog, a local charity that supports women and their families from the Sikh and minority ethnic communities, have used the garden as a social space.

Harriet Cross, sustainability coordinator at Edinburgh College, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have won ... Our community garden has been a hugely popular resource for the students, staff and the local community and it’s fantastic for it to be recognised by a national awards body.

“Gardening enables individuals to pause and reflect on events happening in their life and I think this is why it has had such a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of the garden users. Not only does the garden promote healthy eating and focus on the importance of where our food comes from but it also gives people the time to chat and socialise with like-minded people. The garden coordinator, Severine Monvoisin, has completed a course to enable her to use listening skills to give appropriate responses when individuals open up and talk about personal matters while gardening.”

The success of the Milton Road community garden has sparked another green space project at the college’s campus in Sighthill, which is currently under development. The development of this project will be supported by Carr Gomm, a charity that supports vulnerable people through personal, practical and professional help. By involving community groups at the very beginning, the college hopes the community garden will be a valuable and integral part of the local area.

NewFacesatHeeleyCityFarm

There are a few new faces amongst the animals at Heeley City Farm in Sheffield. Two Whitefaced Woodland ewes have come from another farm in North Yorkshire to join the city farm’s flock of sheep, which already includes rare breed Soay sheep.

Whitefaced Woodlands are a very rare, local sheep breed, which are listed as a vulnerable breed on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust’s (RBST) watch-list of breeds at risk. They look like the commercial sheep that you see out in fields in the countryside apart from impressive curly horns which grow at the sides of their heads; think Princess Leia in the first Star Wars film!

Heeley became a RBST Approved City Farm in �011. Animal worker Sarah Wild said: ‘Staff have been working for years to bring another rare sheep breed to the Farm; livestock is very expensive and our sheep were brought in thanks to the help the RBST gave us in awarding a grant to buy them. We are working very closely with the RBST to help to preserve our native breeds of farm animals and eventually most of the animals here will be rare breeds.”

“Both the ewes were pregnant when they arrived” continued Sarah, “and we’re expecting our Whitefaced Woodland Tup to arrive in March too so there will be more lambs in years to come.”

Members

Members

StepneyCityFarmcrowdfundingsuccessEstablished over 30 years ago, Stepney City Farm in East London is set to remain open to the public after it surpassed its target of raising £15,000 - just five weeks into a two-month fundraising campaign which started in January. The campaign appealed for donations through a crowdfunding website and saw nearly �00 backers raise a total of £19,000.

The farm is open six days a week and requires about £300,000 to run every year. It was predicted that funds were likely to run out this April. According to Paul Woodmin, the farm’s food enterprise manager, the money raised will be used to pay for “core staff as well as boring things like loo paper and soap – the essential everyday stuff we need to open to the public.”

Despite the success of the campaign, the farm is studying more ways to be sustainable and continuing to look at innovative ways of raising funds.

If you are considering your own crowdfunding campaign, we have developed a variety of resources under the Growing Together partnership. These are available to download from: www.growing�gether.org.uk:

You can also post to our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter to reach a wider audience.

Original article: www.eastlondon-lines.co.uk

As part of the City of Culture programme of events in �013, over 81 nature and gardening events happened across the city of Derry/Londonderry - now combined in popular parlance as “Legenderry”.

Gareth Austin, pioneering horticulturist and voice of gardening on BBC Radio Foyle in Derry-Londonderry has been involved in community gardening in the city for the past 5 years and was a key organiser of many of the events. He described the programme and what he feels community gardens can do for the city.

“When Derry was awarded the title of UK City of Culture I thought an interesting play on this was City of Horti-Culture and that it would be great to create a series of weekly events to run throughout the year and showcase horticultural heritage in the area.

“The events ranged from snowdrop and bluebell walks, tree tours, foraging walks, gardening, herb planters and more. One particularly well-received event was a walk entitled ‘A Living Wall’ which was a guided tour highlighting all the plants which grow on Derry’s 400 year old city walls. Attendees told me that they never realised that there were so many different varieties of plants growing on the walls or that they had become a living habitat for so many flora and fauna.

“A high point were the three ‘Artist Garden Projects’, one being a woodland-inspired

garden in the courtyard of a former shirt factory which will become a permanent fixture and a wonderful ‘cup of coffee’ space.

“Community gardening in Derry has grown from the first project started 5 years ago into nearly �5 sites across the city today. The vast majority are small spaces, maybe 3-10 raised beds, built by community centres, residents groups and housing associations that meet the needs of a very local group of people. Projects that folks walk to, that they open their back gates to get access to - not where they need a car to get to.

“Each year we have users who graduate with Horticultural Qualifications from North West Regional College using their community gardens as teaching spaces. Community gardens have and do change people’s lives, from the obvious impact of learning about healther lifestyles to the less obvious but perhaps more important improvements in mental health, and the real sense of ownership and increase in pride that users have in their community space.”

To read more about community gardening in Legenderry: www.garethaustin.com

Legenderry:CityofHorti-Culture

�

Eventsandnetworking

Community gardening in Edinburgh has gone from

strength to strength in recent years, with new projects appearing all over the city at a very welcome rate. Ally Hurcikova, from Grass Roots Growers, describes how, as a way of supporting and learning from each other, a group of growers got together to form Edinburgh’s own community gardening skill-share network: Germination.

“The idea behind Germination was to create a self-sustaining network, owned and directed by all community gardeners in Edinburgh. Germination sprang from the hopes and dreams of people keen to realise a vision of a resilient, green and productive city. We wanted not only to learn from each other and share best practice, but also to simply enjoy each others’ projects and the tranquility and fun that comes with doing outdoor activities and sharing food with like-minded folk.

“There will be four events a year, one for every season. Each event will be hosted by a different community growing project, and be supported by two volunteers from another two different projects. This means that for each event, a new group of people will meet, possibly for the first time, and work together to organise an event their way.

“Each event will follow the same basic format, at least initially: a day exchanging practical skills and sharing food, with some time spent helping out the host project with any site work required. There is plenty of room for this format to evolve into new creative

possibilities as the Germination baton is continually passed on, and we certainly hope that it does.

“The first event took place last October, hosted by the Hope Triangle Project in Oxgangs and supported by Grassroots Growers and Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust. In less than perfect weather �0 growers from across the city came together to chat, hear the story of the project, share food and skills.

“From the outset, the focus of Germination hasn’t been solely on gardening skills but rather on any skills that could come in useful in the garden. At the Hope Triangle, Graham led a fantastic spoon-carving session, Heather offered the rainy-day option of crafts and knitting, Lou led some enthusiastic bulb-planting and Ben took the whole group through the finer points of autumn pruning.

“The numbers weren’t huge for this first event but the general vibe and everyone’s appreciation of everything they had learnt and shared by the end of the day was so great that we feel sure that

Germination will be here to stay. The rolling format is working as well: a completely new group (featuring growers from Edinburgh College, Transition and Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre) are now busy plotting the second event.

“Germination does not replace or duplciate the existing FCFCG networking events. FCFCG events are good at responding to what’s most pressing and most ‘live’ in any one area by highlighting good practice and providing training opportunities. However, there is always so much ground to cover, and so much chatting to do at a networking event that we are left wanting more! Germination builds on this by giving growers the opportunity to come together, away from their own garden to learn something new or share something completely unique – and then take that excitement back to their own project.

“If other towns and cities are interested in setting up their own skill sharing network, we would be happy to share our experiences.”

[email protected]

Germination:anewcommunitygardeningskill-sharemovement

Taking place on 11 July, this year’s Growing Schools conference is aimed at all school professionals, teachers, farmers, community groups and others who have a passion to develop food growing in schools and to maximise the potential of the new curriculum and the new School Food Plan, to deliver a positive impact on the health and well-being of our society.

The inspirational venue of Phoenix High School,

a working school in West London, will host a full range of hands on workshops and discussion forums. The keynote presentation this year will be given by Myles Bremner, former Chief Executive of Garden Organic, who is now driving the School Food Plan. Delegates will also receive a free pass to Kew Gardens for Saturday 1� July.

Early bird tickets cost £100 (book by 11th May). Visit: www.flamecharity.org/conference

Events

Meanwhile gardening, the temporary use of land for gardening activities, is on the increase throughout the UK. In Edinburgh, FCFCG recently held an event which included visits to two inspiring and very different sites where this is taking place.

The Grove, Fountainbridge has 35 communal plots and 40 plots allocated to individuals. The site owner has agreed to temporary use of land that is awaiting development. The developers have also provided other support in the form of staff time, fencing, pallets and a site toilet located in a shipping container!

When the current site has to be vacated, the garden will be moved onto other temporarily unused land. To help keep their raised beds intact, the group have invested in a pallet mover (above). The group, who have a waiting list for plots, have recently secured agreement for meanwhile use of another site nearby.

The Royal Edinburgh Community Gardens are located within 15 acres of hospital grounds and are an NHS Lothian initiative to make good food and healthy lifestyles available to the local community, patients and staff. The gardens are managed by The Cyrenians, a charity which supports young homeless people and have been running for just over three years on ground earmarked for future development.

Within the next year, the hospital campus redevelopment will begin. The gardeners and NHS landowners are in dialogue about relocating to another site elsewhere in the grounds. This is being seen as a major opportunity for a new public social partnership.

The European Federation of City Farms (EFCF) conference is held each year in a member country to further European co-operation and understanding and to promote training, networking and communication of good practice. We are delighted to be hosting this year’s event in Swansea this September.

Delegates will have the chance to explore the city and its surroundings and to visit three local projects:

• Swansea Community Farm - to hear more about their volunteer and youth programmes

• Vetch Veg - a community garden established on the former Swansea City Football ground providing a space for the multi-cultural inner city community to come together and grow

• The Down to Earth Project - a social enterprise project working with young people and people on probation through activities such as sustainable building, animal husbandry and growing.

The conference takes place from �5-�9 September. Spaces are limited, so please book early. For further information or to book online, go to: www.farmgarden.org.uk/news

FCFCGhosts2014EuropeanCityFarmsconference

GrowingSchoolsConference:Schoolfoodandtheoutdoorclassroom

MeanwhilegardeninginspirationfromEdinburgh

Managementandresources

FCFCGandfoodbanksThe increasing demand for Food Banks is a topic of concern for FCFCG and its members. We understand there are fundamental political and ethical questions about the growth of Food Banks and do not condone the need for Food Banks or the circumstances which have caused the growth in their number. Neither are we suggesting they are a long term solution.

We do feel it is important to explore how we and member groups might possibly help some of those in receipt of food from this source live a healthier life in the future and whether this is even a realistic aim for community growing groups. We recently asked members to let us know if they were already supplying food banks in their area with fresh food or would like to explore doing so if FCFCG was able to secure some resources to help.

Thank you to those of you who replied. Briefly, around 17% of respondents are already involved with Food Banks and around 80% are considering getting involved. We are now collating and considering your responses which will inform any further action we take in this area. If you would like to share your experience as a case study on this topic, please contact: [email protected]

A recent report may also be of interest: www.gov.uk/government/publications/food-aid-research-report

Social Return on Investment (SROI) is a way of measuring the non-financial value of a service (i.e. environmental and social value) relative to resources invested. It can be used by community-managed farms and gardens to evaluate impact on stakeholders, identify ways to improve performance, and enhance the performance of investments.

Now available online, this report from Local Food gives firm evidence of the cost benefits of community growing projects. The findings suggest that every £1 invested in Local Food returns £7 to society in the form of social and economic outcomes including health and well-being, training and skills.You can download the report at: www.localfoodgrants.org

An SROI report created by FCFCG on Gorgie City Farm in Edinburgh is also available on our website. This report can be used by members as a model to do an SROI report on your own project or to use as generic evidence of the benefit of community growing.The report demontrates that

community gardens will provide more than three times a funder’s initial investment in ‘social value’. You can download a copy of the report from: www.farmgarden.org.uk/members-updates

LocalFoodAwardsFCFCG initiated the consortium which developed Local Food and bid for the Lottery funding that has enabled Local Food to give grants worth £59.8million to 450 projects across the UK. At a celebratory event in November awards were made to recognise, reward and celebrate some of the hundreds of outstanding community projects that Local Food has funded. Three out of the four awards made were to FCFCG members: • Community Growing Award:

Brighton & Hove Food Partnership

• Enterprise Award: Tamar Grow Local

• Small Grants Award: Middlesborough Environment City

Garden Organic received the Education and Growing Award.

LocalFoodfinalreport:ASocialReturnOnInvestmentApproach

The Living Wage gives people the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families. It can also have a significant impact on quality of work, recruitment and retention.

The Living Wage Foundation.offers accrediatation to employers that pay the Livinig Wage, or those that commit to an agreed timetable of implementation.

They also provide advice and support to empoyers, including best practice guides, case studies, and access to specialist legal and HR advice.

For more information on the Living Wage Foundation and the benefits of registering, visit: www.livingwage.org.uk

Areyoupayingthelivingwage?

As part of our Growing Together partnership, FCFCG has created some useful new resources for groups on topics including:• Crowdfunding• DIG (Digital Income Generation)• Working with businesses• Workplace growing• Community shares.

You can download these briefing sheets and accompanying case studies from: www.growing�gether.org.uk

FCFCGbloglaunchWe’re launching an online blog soon and we’re looking for guest contributions. The blog will help keep members updated on funding opportunities and relevant news as well as promoting the work of members to a wider audience (the FCFCG website attracts �60,000 page views per year).

We are looking for posts that show how communities and people benefit from your work; information on campaigns; awards to celebrate; a series of great images you want to share or something on a topic of revelance to other members. Interested? Then send an email to [email protected] and we will be in touch.

Managementandresources

You’vegotthepower!DCLG have published a guide to the legal powers and new opportunities given to communities to preserve what they like and change what they don’t like in their local area.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/youve-got-the-power-a-quick-and-simple-guide-to-community-rights

Further advice, support and funding are available at: www.mycommunityrights.org.uk

RighttoContestSince January, communities and businesses have been able to submit applications challenging the use of sites through the Right To Contest. This means the public can contest the use of central government land and property and apply for its release.

www.gov.uk/right-to-contest

RunningacommunityeventCommunity Matters have a free download giving top tips for running a community event. It looks at common stumbling blocks, including music and video licences, insurance and covering your costs

This guide covers events such as fetes, parades and charity fundraisers which are likely to attract an audience of several hundred people and may feature sales of food and alcohol.

www.communitymatters.org.uk/resources_details.aspx?ResourceID=444

Farms,heartsandgardensThis is an inspiring, colourful film about London’s city farms and community gardens which looks at their work and the benefits created for the local community.

Available to view via Youtube or our London webpage: www.farmgarden.org.uk/london

NewresourcesfromFCFCG

ComicReliefLocalGrantsUK Community Foundations is the managing agent for Comic Relief’s Stronger Communities theme. The community foundations aim to identify community projects that support some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people in the UK and invest in these through one of two programmes:• Local Communities - grants of

£1,000 to £10,000 a year. • Community Cash - grants of

£500 - £1,000.

Both are currently open for applications. Please check with your local community foundation to find out details for your area. Priority is given to small, locally-based groups or organisations in areas of disadvantage that have a clear understanding of the needs of their community and are taking action to address these needs.

http://ukcommunityfoundations.org/programmes/comic_relief

LloydsBankandBankofScotlandSocialEntrepreneursProgrammeIf you’ve got an idea for a project to improve your local community, this programme can help make it happen. Delivered by the School for Social Entrepreneurs the programme offers a fully funded year of learning and a grant to help you get started on a new idea or scale up an existing social enterprise. Students can expect to learn from their peers, build new networks and be challenged by practitioners.

Open to applications from across the UK but participants must be prepared to travel to one of the 1�

locations where the programme is delivered. Full details on the website. Closing date: 3 April

www.the-sse.org/schools/�6/lloyds-banking-group-social-entrepreneurs-programme

TheScrewfixFoundationFunding available for registered charities wanting to maintain or improve a community building. To apply, download an application form from: www.screwfixfoundation.com

People’sPostcodeTrust-SmallGrantsProgramme2014This programme exists to try to make the world a better place through short-term, project specific funding for projects of up to 1� months in length, ranging from £500 up to £�0,000 (£5,000 for projects of up to six months in Wales).

To be eligible, projects must provide assistance in one or more of the Trust’s fields of operation including prevention of poverty, community development, and environmental protection or improvement.

There are four funding rounds per year. See website for opening and closing dates for �014 funding rounds, details of eligible regions for each round and online application form. The next round opens on 5 April.

www.postcodetrust.org.uk/small-grants.aspx

PowertoChangeThis new BLF initiative will invest up to £150 million to support the development of sustainable community-led enterprises across England. It will be delivered

through an independent grant-making Trust from autumn �014.

In the meantime BLF want to celebrate and raise awareness of the many community enterprises across the country, connect people with enterprising projects in their local area, and inspire many more people to get involved.If you are a community enterprise or know of a great community enterprise in your area, BLF want to hear from you.

www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/powertochange

ThePeople’sMillionsisbackThe People’s Millions is a partnership between the Big Lottery Fund and ITV, where the public helps decide which local community projects get up to £50,000 of Lottery funding. Several FCFCG members have been successful in the past.

This year’s competition is now open. The website provides inspiration and advice about the application process as well as top tips for generating public support.

www.peoplesmillions.org.uk

VeoliaTrustThis trust is committed to supporting community and environmental projects across the UK. These could include projects aiming to install or enhance play areas, restore footpaths and green spaces, protect natural habitats or improve community halls.

Projects need to be within five miles of a site operated by Veolia Environmental Services and must also fall under one of the five funding categories and meet their connected criteria as detailed on the website.

www.veoliaturst.org

Funding,trainingandotheropportunities

Our Funding and Community Enterprise Advisors in Wales

recently asked Mathew Brown, Manager of the Communities Investment Fund and Mark White from the Charity Bank for their advice on making a successful loan finance application.

To begin with Mathew Brown explained the classic mistake people make when applying to a loan fund rather that a grant fund is that they forget that a loan fund is primarily interested in how the organisation is going to generate the revenue to repay the loan. He stressed “the weight of the evidence in the business plan needs to show how you are going to achieve the income lines that are stated and show they are realistic.

Mathew continued, “For me a good business plan is self-critical. When I read a BP I write a list of the areas where I see there is a risk to us as a loan funder, such as too muchh dependency on one income source, too great a reliance on one member of staff/volunteer, unconfirmed leases on property etc.

“A good BP will have identified these same areas of risk and stated how they will be resolved/mitigated. This gives me confidence as a loan financier that the organisation is clear about how they are going to achieve their stated aims and income projections whilst understanding what could potentially stop those aims being achieved.”

Mark White from the Charity Bank highlighted another common mistake made by third sector organisations when engaged in several separately funded projects is that they too often approach

their loan finance application as being only needed for one specific project. In fact, they need to submit a proposal and business plan which looks at the whole organisation.

He explained, “Lenders are looking to the organisation as a whole to repay the loan, not just the specific project. As such, a business plan and financial forecasts need to address how the project will feed into the overall organisation and how the organisation will repay the loan. This often then leads to groups needing to consider the impact their project proposal has on their organisation as a whole.”

Mark went on to set out what constitutes a good business plan, and the ingredients in a social business that encourage the Charity Bank to support it with loan finance.

“A good business plan will be concise and to the point in describing what it is that the organisation does, what it is that the investment is required for, what other funding is available and why the proposal will benefit the organisation. The plan will address the 4 key areas of:

• Management and governance: who are the key people that run the organisation, deliver the service/product, why they are qualified to do so and what they do to run it well

• Market for the service/product: what is it that the organisation does/proposes to do, why there is demand for it and how it will generate income and (more importantly) surpluses

• Financials: how successful has the organisation been in running its business in the past

and if it has had problems, why and what has it done to sort it out? How the organisation expects to perform in the future and why.

• Risk: the organisation’s own analysis of the risks to them and investors of the proposal and how they will mitigate those risks

“Finally, from Charity Bank’s perspective, we are a mission focused bank and we expect to see our loans being used to create social impact. As such, we would want a business plan to explain how the organisation will use a loan from Charity Bank to achieve this.”

For more info on the Communities Investment Fund:

www.wcva.org.uk/funding/wcva-funding/communities-investment-fund

For more information about Charity Bank loans, including their ‘Brief Guide to Borrowing for Chairty’: www.charitybank.org

InfoZoneDon’t forget that as an FCFCG member you can access a wealth of online information resources via our website. Simply visit: www.farmgarden.org.uk/infozone

EnewsletterContaining funding and other opportunities, the enewsletter is sent out to members in-between issues of Growing Places. If you would like to make sure you are on the mailing list, please send your email address to:

[email protected]

Funding,trainingandotheropportunities

Loanfinance-Isitrightforyou?

SupportServices• Development staff and a pool

of experienced Fieldworkers based across the UK provide practical help and advice on a range of subjects and issues.

• Emergency information and support (eg for disease outbreaks such as bird flu).

• Free financial advice session with our Finance Manager (subject to availability).

• Access to specialist support networks and initiatives (eg School Farms Network, Growing With Schools).

• Networking and training opportunities on themes requested by our membership. These events are free or highly subsidised for members.

Publicationsandmailings• Free copies, either by post

or email depending on your membership category/preference, of our quarterly members’ magazine Growing Places, and other regular publications

• Single hard copies of other publications are available free to members on request.

• Multiple copies of promotional publications such as maps and leaflets are also available.

• Circulate your inserts for job vacancies, events etc free of charge in our postal mailings.

TravelBursaries• Travel bursaries of up to £150

(when available) towards the costs of visits to other community groups in your area or to our training/networking events. For more details contact your local FCFCG staff member.

OnlineServices• You will have access to our

comprehensive online resource centre in the members Info Zone on our website.

• Copies of publications and newsletters are available to download.

• Using FCFCG website’s online shop to market items for sale (in development).

• Advertising and promotion for your events on our website.

• Our site has specific regional or country pages with useful local information.

• Regular e-newsletters and e-bulletins to keep you informed of news, funding, training and information resources.

Otherbenefits• Discounts with various

suppliers of goods and services. For details see: www.farmgarden.org.uk/memberupdates

• Information about a public liability insurance scheme designed specifically for allotments and community gardens (joining FCFCG does NOT mean you automatically have insurance cover).

• Access to our exhibitions, digital presentations, photographs and videos.

• Access to FCFCG grants and

bursaries (when available) and subsidised feasibility studies and consultancy services at discounted rates.

• Members are prioritised to be featured in our popular map publications, highlighting city farms and community gardens in regions across the UK which are available free to the general public.

• FCFCG can help raise your profile if you host events that we run, have an article in Growing Places magazine or host a Seeing is Believing tour for policy makers.

• Members can nominate someone to the FCFCG Board.

NCVO/SCVO/WCVAmembershipNCVO in England, SCVO in Scotland and WCVA in Wales are umbrella bodies providing specialised information, advice and support to the voluntary and community sector.

All English FCFCG members with an income of less than £10,000 per year are eligible for free NCVO community membership. For details of NCVO benefits see: www.ncvo-vol.org.uk

All Scottish FCFCG members with an income of less than £�5,000 per year are eligible for free SCVO membership. For details of SCVO benefits see: www.scvo.org.uk

All Welsh FCFCG members with an income of less than £10,000 per year are eligible for free WCVA membership. For details of WCVA benefits see: www.wcva.org.uk

Unfortunately, we do not currently offer a similar benefit for members in Northern Ireland.

MakethemostofyourFCFCGmembership

FCFCGmemberservices

As an FCFCG member you are part of the wider movement

of community-managed green spaces that benefit from the support, representation and promotion FCFCG provides. Here’s a summary of the key benefits available to you.

FCFCG has several offices throughout the UK through

which we deliver our services to members.

GeneralenquiriesStaff at our UK office in Bristol can deal with general enquiries, press and PR, membership, finance, and requests for information and support. Our Chief Executive, Jeremy Iles, can also be contacted at this office.

Tel. 0117 9�3 1800 [email protected]

DevelopmentstaffacrosstheUKOur development staff can provide specialist hands-on advice and have a knowledge of sources of information, support and funding in your area.

For details of individual staff in each team please see the relevant pages of our website.

WalesOur Wales staff work from offices in Cardiff, Pembrokeshire, and Llanberis. The team in Cardiff deals with general enquiries and can provide contact details for the other offices.

Tel. 0�9�0 �35 535 or ��5 94� [email protected] www.farmgarden.org.uk/wales

ScotlandOur Scottish team are based at Gorgie City Farm, Edinburgh.

Tel. 0131 6�3 7058 [email protected] www.farmgarden.org.uk/scotland

NorthernIrelandOur Northern Ireland team are based in Belfast.

Tel. 077�5 699 44� [email protected] www.farmgarden.org.uk/ northern-ireland

EnglandWe have four offices in England:

NorthOur North of England team is based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne Tel. 01�07 56� 317 [email protected] www.farmgarden.org.uk/north

LondonandtheEastOur London team is based at Kentish Town City Farm.Tel. 0�07 485 5001 [email protected] www.farmgarden.org.uk/london

MidlandsOur Midlands team is based in Coventry.Tel. 0�476 675 �11 [email protected] www.farmgarden.org.uk/midlands

SouthWestOur South West team is based in Exeter. Tel. 0139� �43 �33 [email protected] www.farmgarden.org.uk/ south-west

Projectsandpartnerships

GrowingwithSchools(GWS)Tel. 0�476 675 �11 [email protected] www.growing-with-schools.org.uk

CommunityLandAdviceService(CLAS)

England: Tel. 0117 966 9491 [email protected]

Scotland Tel. 0131 ��5 �080 [email protected]

Wales 0�9�1 960 966 wales@communitylandadvice. org.uk

www.communitylandadvice. org.uk

Getintouch...

Key:

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Wales

South West

Midlands

North England

London

East England

AreascoveredbyourDevelopmentWorkers

FCFCGmemberservices

Supportingcommunitiestomanagetheirlocalgreenspaces.PatronHRHThePrinceofWales

ChiefExecutiveJeremyIles

ChairDavidDrury

Charity no. �94494 Company no. �0110�3 Scottish charity no. SCO39440

Printed using vegetable-based inks on recycled paper.

UKOfficeThe GreenHouse, Hereford Street, Bristol, BS3 4NA Tel. 0117 9�3 1800 Fax. 0117 9�3 1900 [email protected]

www.farmgarden.org.ukNews, events, job vacancies, how to set up a new city farm or community garden, members zone and online seachable database giving details of city farms and community gardens across the UK.

Copydateforsummerissue:9MayWe are happy to include items sent in by members, including news about your project, ideas and advice for other projects.

Pleasenote:

This newsletter can be made available in large type, Braille or on audio-tape. Tel. 0117 9�3 1800

FCFCGreceivesfundingfrommanysourcesincluding:

Members’magazine,Spring2014

GrowingPlaces

Growingplacesspring2014

Documents

Transcript of Growingplacesspring2014