Grow it yourself with Grow Lewisham

Funded on
19 Mar 2021

We want to create a food growing hub for our Lewisham community. It will support borough residents with the skills and resources needed to start healthy food projects in their own neighbourhoods.

£7,352 Raised of £4,344

91 Backers

169%

Costs

Workshops x 6 £1,080
Outreach sessions in the community x 6 £1,050
Polytunnel £602
Greenhouse £434
Electric saw £200
Electric drill/ screwdriver £200
Cordless strimmer £193
Gardening tools £150
Plants and seeds £100
Biochar £79
Other + £30

Plant pots £30
Target: (inc. fees) £4,343

Grow Lewisham is a constituted community group set up in 2020.

Originally we had the idea of running a community garden, but with the advent of COVID 19 and the amazing local mutual aid groups the extent of food poverty and need in Lewisham became starkly apparent. It seemed that a wider plan to help the vulnerable was needed. We felt there was an opportunity to turn our community garden into a wider ranging resource, a hub for the whole of Lewisham rather than a lucky few. This is how Grow Lewisham came into being.

Since starting up we have connected with other food related projects in Lewisham and consulted with others nationwide drawing on research, good practice and expertise. We work with projects and community groups and our longterm aim is to expand the idea of urban community food growing across the whole borough. We want to connect the food projects and growing spaces that already exist as well as developing new projects from micro farms, forest gardens, collective allotment spaces and pop up farm sites. We will use available spaces in inovative ways: estate common grounds - usually monoculture grass wastelands can be transformed, tiny spaces like balconies can grow in planters, rooftops can be greened and vertical growing can be used where nothing else is available. As environmentalists, sustainability will be inbuilt through recycling, repairing, reusing and eshewing the use of chemicals on the soil or plants. We offer shared tools, skills and resources to people to develop their own growing spaces and vitally the networ to connect and share with others.

We are a purposefully diverse group in order to reflect the cultural diversity of the borough of Lewisham. We bring a range of skills, passion, interests and expertise including education, activism, sustainable fashion, journalism, research, creative skills combined with an overriding interest in growing and sharing food.

Project Owner: Grow Lewisham The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.