How did you get started?

Project Grow began in 2020 during the pandemic, as a way of getting locally grown food to people. We started off small with food going to local pantries and food banks, but now we have 4 growing sites and partnership projects across Cheltenham.

When we first began giving food to local pantries during the pandemic, we found that they were not set up do deal with perishables, so it wasn’t getting to the right people and food was being wasted. So, we reached out to the other community growing groups out there, to ask how we could work together to get good food to those who need it.

Then Feeding Gloucestershire came along and helped to support us – we could do so much more together as a group than we could as individual growers – this group developed into Good Food Cheltenham in May 2023, and now there are around 20 organisations working together for good food in the town.

Who is involved?

Good Food Cheltenham’s core group covers food, sustainability, and hospitality, and our network partners range from local community gardens to local authority partners. For example, Project Grow are a Cheltenham project which produce plants and produce going to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, care homes, and hospitals, but through Good Food Cheltenham we have been able to help collaborate to provide food for community hot lunches and a community fridge in St. Paul’s.

What are your core values and aims?

Project Grow grow ‘plants and produce with purpose’ and try to inspire other people to ‘grow it forward’ This fits really well with the wider vision of Good Food Cheltenham – to create a vibrant, healthier, sustainable, and more equitable food system across Cheltenham.

What impact do you think the project has had?

Project Grow, by working collaboratively with Good Food Cheltenham, has been able to create several impactful local pilot projects. The Fresh Hope Garden Project is a collaboration between a Project Grow site at the Community Rest Garden and the Fresh Hope Pantry just 0.2 miles away – fresh nature-friendly food goes to the pantry and any waste comes back to the garden to be composted, meaning micro food miles and a virtuous loop! There are 2 more pilot projects developing at the moment – the Heritage Hub Community Garden growing food for Wiggly (a Gloucestershire based cooking skills charity) and a Student Community Garden at Francis Close Hall Campus (part of the University of Gloucestershire) to try and help those students struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

What are the key challenges?

A key challenge is the lack of a cross sector action plan on food within Cheltenham, and lack of resources to deliver change on the ground.

What about the future?

To build a more diverse food system in Cheltenham, to continue what we’ve started and get more people involved, as well as highlighting the benefits of good food. Project Grow are also excited to be working with the RHS this year as well – helping to explore growing in a changing climate.

How did you get started?

The market garden idea was conceived by Jenny Phelps (FWAG SW) a few years ago to bring more practical agroecological learning to the students at the RAU. The 7-acre field, right next to the RAU, was being conventionally farmed, but offered real potential as a showcase for agroecology. So much could be done to enhance the site’s biodiversity, for example by planting a hedgerow and pollinating species around the edges, but also to get more people involved in climate and nature-friendly growing, by bringing in local volunteers to connect with the growing process. It took a little while to secure the land and the funding needed to get the project going, but now with £110k from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, everything is in place for the spring growing season.

Who is involved?

FWAG SW have partnered with Zerodig Earth – the Zerodig method is a step-by-step no-dig method developed by Christopher Upton and Dr Mario Peters. The site is right next to the Royal Agricultural University, who will be collaborating and supporting the project, and lots of students have already started getting involved.

What are the core values or aims?

The project aims to boost understanding of the benefits of agro-ecological food production, strengthen the local economy, and foster community collaboration for sustainable, healthy food.

What impact has it had?

It’s just getting started but it’s really exciting to see how partnership projects like this can come together, and the potential they have to impact not just the local food system, but spark wider systems transformation through education and skills. The Great Zerodig Project Team are already planning events to engage people in the project – a bird survey and social event is currently being planned to help people identify how different bird species are related to different habitat types. Students from the University have already begun volunteering and a regular volunteering session will run every week.

What are the key challenges?

Some of the key challenges have been securing the funding needed for quite a large project to get off the ground, as well as dealing with winter weather when moving equipment and woodchip onto the site with a small team. Also really thinking about the sustainability, biodiversity, and circular economy side of the project – reducing inputs, enhancing soil and biodiversity, as well as how to have a social impact by increasing food resilience.

What are your future aspirations?

The hope is that, once up and running, the site will become a commercially viable fruit and veg business, supplying local customers, including the RAU students, with nutritious, regeneratively grown produce, all whilst providing students at the Royal Agricultural University an opportunity to gain practical experience of small-scale commercial food production, as well as learning how agro-ecology could be applied to the wider farming landscape.

How did you get started?

The project really began in Lockdown 2020, with 2.5 acres of un-used land, and was set up as a CIC in March 2021. Martin had owned the land for 20 years but opened it up to the community and leased the land back to the CIC. Wild Acres has an outdoor kitchen, compost loo, poly tunnels growing a range of produce, as well as a newly planted orchard.

Who is involved?

There are 5 directors and lots of co-producers – Tuesday and Thursdays are open for community days, and individuals and groups come down to get involved. People come to Wild Acres through social prescribing, but also via word of mouth. The site opens up for events and activities, as well as workshops exploring a range of activities, such as Yoga, Art, and Kimchi-Making. People can also book up for community celebrations and groups can come down to the site to get involved in orchards, hedgerow planting, foraging and horticulture.

What are your core values and aims?

Co-production is a key value. People come for themselves. The cooking element is really important and the outdoor kitchen really is the hub of Wild Acres.

What impact do you think the project has had?

Individuals are able to build confidence and be involved with more sustainable lifestyles, develop cooking skills, as well as soft skills such as working with people. Health and wellbeing are also improved by being involved – as it helps develops a sense of belonging and community.

What are the key challenges?

Lots of them! Public transport and getting to the site. Support for people when they first come, if they come through social prescribing, they often need a buddy to help be a bridge. Access and capital development.

What about the future?

To see what the community need is – but our vision is for a vibrant, land based, sustainable community, with shared values and ideas.