Building community food resilience and growing skills
This month we celebrated an exciting four-year milestone at the Grow! Cook! Eat! (GCE) Project – and received the fantastic news that the project had secured two more years of funding from West Northamptonshire Council.
The community health initiative is empowering people to reconnect with food through practical skills in growing, cooking, and eating. The programme offers workshops, roadshows, and grants to help families, schools, and community groups create sustainable food projects. From seed planting and allotment support to cooking confidence courses, GCE promotes healthy lifestyles, reduces food insecurity, and strengthens community resilience. With its ethos of ‘Grow it, Cook it, Share it’, the project inspires people of all ages to embrace affordable, nutritious, and locally sourced food.
With Public Health team funding, we’re seeing many positive impacts as people build the skills, confidence and understanding they need to make healthier choices.
Since its inception in 2022, GCE has:
- Empowered more than 100 ‘Community Champions’.
- Funded 30 grassroots food projects.
- Established a strong partnership model linking community, health, and education sectors.
The programme was established to tackle health inequalities and poor nutrition through community-led interventions. The partnership of Hope Centre, Community Health Works, and Garden Organic has created a trusted and effective model, made possible with funding and support from West Northamptonshire Council Public Health. We’re excited to continue supporting communities and build on everything we've achieved so far.
RHS Sandringham Flower Show 🔗
We also had a fantastic four days at RHS Sandringham Flower Show with the Norfolk Master Composters in July. Over a glorious five days, our Master Composters were out in force at the event on the King’s private estate in Norfolk.
The weather was… as we’ve come to expect this year… hot and dry! But that didn’t stop the visitors or spoil the array of inspiring borders, show gardens and floral displays.
Our base for the event was ‘Soil Fest’; a celebration of all things soil and a deep dive into the life beneath our feet. Cranfield University and the British Society of Soil Science brought talking soil benches, playing recordings of the life below ground. Wild Soils explored microorganisms in soil samples up close with microscopes.
Over the course of the five days, 20 volunteer Master Composters shared hints, tips and advice to visitors, encouraging and inspiring more people to compost at home and in their growing spaces. We set up a compost demonstration site with a range of bins, including a working Hotbin that quickly ramped up to 60C making use of coffee grinds and food waste on site.
Composting leaders in East London 🔗
The East Barking Allotment Association kindly hosted us for a workshop for new 'composting leaders', funded and arranged by East London Waste Authority. The attendees were from an array of community gardens and allotments in Barking & Dagenham, and Newham, who are all setting up community composting and educating and inspiring local people about composting at home.
We covered the reasons for composting, how it works, and the different systems which can be . We also provided guidance on engaging with local adults and children, using a range of activities and games. The allotment plots provided some innovative examples of composting; and everyone benefitted from each other's experience and knowledge.
Waste busting in Bucks 🔗
Sadly we had to say goodbye to our Buckinghamshire Waste Busters Programme as our funding came to an end.
Since its launch in 2023, the project has demonstrated that meaningful environmental change begins with people. Through a partnership between Buckinghamshire Council and Garden Organic, the project empowered local volunteers to become trusted champions for waste reduction within their own communities, helping residents discover simple ways to reduce waste, make better use of resources and adopt more sustainable habits.
Over the course of the project, volunteers attended community events, delivered talks, supported workshops, worked alongside schools and community organisations, and engaged with residents across Buckinghamshire. These activities have helped make waste prevention more accessible, practical and relevant to people's daily lives.
The project's greatest achievement has been the creation of a growing network of knowledgeable and enthusiastic ‘Community Waste Champions’ (Waste Busters) who I’m sure will continue inspiring people to make small changes to habits when managing their waste. We’re keen to continue working across Bucks and are exploring opportunities to do so, and to continue supporting our volunteers.
Get involved!
If you’d like to get involved promoting organic growing in your community then please get in touch.
If we haven’t got a funded programme in your area, you can sign up to our ‘UK-wide network’ to become part of our active network, and we’ll support you with webinars, newsletters and links to the most up to date educational resources and engagement tools.