Growing Buddies

Growing Buddies is a new engagement tool kit for housing associations and their tenants. By empowering tenants to take control of growing in shared community spaces they can inspire people to engage with their communities, landlords and environment, creating satisfaction and pride in place.

Our Growing Buddy programme can deliver measurable and positive impacts on tenants' health and wellbeing, their environment and overall satisfaction levels.

The project also offers a fresh look at estate services strategies as communities take a lead in improving and maintaining their own surroundings.

Garden Organic’s Growing Buddies programme offers:

Optional onsite training sessions to empower tenants on how to create beautiful communities
Resources packs, including what and where to grow.
Online workshops for Growing Buddies
Ongoing advice and support throughout the year for tenants and landlords
Tenant recruitment pack
Survey templates to monitor participation and progress
Regular communications
Marketing and PR support

For more information, or to arrange an informal conversation about the needs of your specific housing association, please email horticulture@gardenorganic.org.uk

Alternative text should describe the visual content of the image. — Chris Collins shares his views with the Housing Quality Network on why a beautiful outside space is so important for housing associations and tenants.

We all share a social space, which means gardening has a great opportunity to be a social adhesive. The garden outside our homes is the thing we see when we come home, it's the place where we stop and talk to each other. If it looks good you feel pride in your surroundings.

— Chris Collins, head of horticulture and housing association tenant