“I train local residents on how to grow nutritious food”

Thomas had a history of growing food in communities and trying to create localised, sustainable food systems. This led to his involvement in starting FungALL in July 2023, a community led mushroom farm designed to regulate itself and produce free mushrooms from waste for a community café.

As part of the Green Leaders programme, the Groundwork team supported this initiative, starting with an online food growing workshop, in which participants were posted mushroom growing kits and took part in online workshops to learn more about how to grow and maintain their produce.

They then began volunteering sessions to support in the building of the mushroom farm and helping in the community garden. Thomas has spent a lot of time volunteering over the last few months, leading to a successful creation of the mushroom farm which is grown inside a sterile incubator, constructed within a shipping container.

While Thomas wanted to grow his skills and knowledge in project management, he also understood the need for free and discounted produce in his neighbourhood:

Our community is in the top 10% of the UK’s most deprived areas for income and crime. Instead of focusing on the negatives, I try to put my energy into training myself and local residents on how to create these resilient, sustainable systems to grow nutritious food.

Thomas also has ambitions to use the farm as a community hub:

It’ll be used to run food events and workshops designed to upskill the local community, while also providing digital workshops and posting growing kits.

To find out more about FungALL and their progress, visit their Instagram page!