Our Delivery Report
Funded on 08 June 2024 | Delivered on 30 June 2025
£10,539
RAISED
28
BACKERS
71
DAYS TO FUND
BIGGEST PLEDGE
£7,533
From North East Combined Authority
60
people have visited this project!
8 Community events created
1 Social enterprise started
750 books produced
1 Intercultural Urban Garden Almanac produced
8 artist workshops delivered
Newcastle University Humanities Research Institutes donated £1,000
04 July 2025
The Comfrey Almanac on BBC Sounds! (2:33:33 – 2:40:30 mins)
BBC News'Comfrey Project is a place where people can come and they can breathe, they can connect with nature, and begin to grow roots, where hope and community can take hold'
More about our impact
The environment
The Comfrey Almanac is an accessible, beautiful volume promoting environmental stewardship in the North East. By showcasing permaculture techniques and sustainable gardening practices from diverse cultural perspectives, it encourages eco-friendly approaches to urban green spaces. The book highlights the importance of biodiversity, companion planting, and organic methods, offering practical knowledge that can be applied in local gardens and allotments. It is also a handy educational resource that raises awareness about the ecological benefits of varied plant species, including those often considered 'weeds,'. Bringing together knowledges from across the world, it fostering a more inclusive understanding of nature's value. It also promotes the use of natural remedies and local, seasonal produce, reducing reliance on imported goods and encouraging sustainable food consumption. The book's focus on community-led initiatives aligns with the principles of permaculture, emphasizing the creation of self-sustaining ecosystems.
The local economy
Our Almanac is available to buy online (from 21 November 2025) and from selected, supporting bookstores around the North East. All proceeds will go to the Comfrey Project. These proceeds will help us to continue our work of providing support for those experiencing forced migration to rebuild their lives here in the North East.
Volunteering, jobs & education
The project has provided temporary employment for artists, promoting their work and fostering creative networks with our charity. We are very pleased too that the project enabled us to employ one of our refugee members as a research assistant to help manage the book's distribution.
Arts, culture & heritage
Workshopping and publishing The Comfrey Almanac, we are bridging arts, culture, and heritage with permaculture. This creative compilation of diverse stories, art, and ecological knowledge helps to map and valorise existing knowledge. It will also catalyse new conversations around a diverse range of global home cultures which, while displaced, come into creative contact through our local urban garden. Our workshops benefitted participants, encouraging them to share their creativity, experiences and expertise and brought this all together to share with the wider public in the Almanac. Our next phase is to involve the university, local community groups, and residents in the Almanac's promotion, to further inspire environmental consciousness blended with a opportunities to enrich our Tyneside heritage with new migrant perspectives. Our hope is that this project will contribute to ours and others' efforts to strengthen community bonds, fostering an appreciation for diversity and a sense of collective environmental responsibility.
Activity, health and leisure
Our artist-led workshops promoted creative engagement with nature. Participants learned how to make prints from sunlight and plant dyes, how to forage, how to glean patterns from the garden. Their contributions also promote good health and wellbeing - with expert advice from around the world on how to unwind, on the importance of family, community and on ways of celebrating together.
