‘Growing Together’, a new Community Greenspace project, is set to launch having recently gained funding from the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food scheme and the Clay Country Local Action group.

Additional grants from Eden Project, local Councillor: Jackie Bull , subsidised tools from Fiskars and a sponsored electric vehicle from Ecobos have also contributed to the projects ability to get started.

Growing Together will encourage and enable residents in the China Clay region to start growing their own fruit and vegetables, as opposed to spending their earnings on packaged foods transported from miles away.

Sara Marsh, Chair of Community Greenspace, the organisation behind the project, enthused:

“We are really pleased that we have been able to secure the funds to start the project.  It will, I am sure, be of considerable benefit to lots of people and families living in the China Clay area.  Growing Together is essentially a garden share project but with lots of added support.”

Sara went on to explain:

“The project works on the premise that people don’t always have space to grow their own fruit and veg, yet there are also lots of people with unused or underused gardens, allotments or greenhouses. By matching up people who don’t have the necessary space with people in their community who are willing to share their garden in return for a share of the produce, the project will help locals save money, live a better lifestyle and reduce their environmental impact.

The two major funders of the project have these principles at their heart.  The Local Food scheme is a £57.5m programme that distributes grants from the Big Lottery Fund promoting five main themes: growing food locally, skills and learning, social enterprise, cultural diversity and healthy eating. The scheme agreed to fund the Growing Together project largely because it could clearly see that “the community is involved, consulted and will benefit from the project”.

The Clay Country Local Action Group support economic and social development projects around the China Clay area in Cornwall.  Funding of £1.8m comes from the Rural Development Programme for England with finance from the EU and Defra.

There is currently very limited opportunity to buy locally grown produce in the Clay area of Cornwall, with only two out of twelve villages containing a green grocer.   However, whilst researching the need for such a project Community Greenspace undertook local surveys  which showed  that residents have a great interest in growing their own vegetables but access to land can be a real barrier, with allotment waiting times typically being 5 years.

Growing Together not only aims to help people in growing their own food by matching enthusiastic growers without any garden space with people who have land that they don’t currently use, but it will also equip them with the  knowledge and skills; as well as relevant agreements, insurances, and tools to get them going.

Sue Amphlett, a Bugle resident already sharing a garden with a neighbour, is very supportive of the project:

“My own experience of garden share has been very successful.  We did have an allotment but it was some way from where we live; now I can access my growing space easily, have created an allotment space for someone nearer to the site and have also made a new friend in my local neighbourhood!”

Sue went on to say:

“I think that founding a network of gardeners like this, coupled with the regular celebratory events that are planned will encourage and inspire others to start growing, as well as connecting people within their own communities.  The project will encourage the sharing of knowledge and resources so that skills are passed on and inherited across different generations.”

The project will be funded over the course of three years and will be managed on behalf of Community Greenspace by well established Cornish organisation Cornwall Waste Action.

Recruitment for the Project Co-ordinator has now commenced, for further information on Growing Together Project or the Project Co-ordinator post please contact Guy Doncaster on 01209 210883, to apply for a job application pack please email: (Aktiviere JavaScript, um die Email-Adresse zu sehen) .