Grange Resource Centre create well-being allotment

Community not-for-profit organization, Grange Resource Centre in Kettering, received £1,900 of grant funding from Groundwork Northamptonshire’s Grow Cook Eat initiative.  

Allotment Manager, Michelle Slater, talks about the impact the funding has had and how fresh produce is creating behavioural change and increasing wellbeing in the local community.  

Access to green spaces 

We are based on the Grange Estate in Kettering, which is a deprived part of town. We offer support and advice to local people with our community centre, café and food bank. When we heard about the possibility of grant funding from Groundwork Northamptonshire, we thought there was an exciting opportunity to expand our work with the creation of a well-being allotment.  

Our vision was to create a green space where people could come to reduce social isolation, increase their wellbeing and experience the healthy benefits of growing, cooking and eating fresh food. 

An allotment for all seasons 

We were delighted when we were awarded £1,900 of funding and immediately set about planning how to make the most of it.  

To ensure the site could be productive all year round, it was important that we had sheltered, dry spaces to work and grow produce in when the weather turned. So we purchased a new shed – where amongst other vital equipment, we keep the all-important kettle! – and a poly tunnel which has enabled us to grow plants from seed that we have not only planted ourselves, but we have also sold on the allotment.   

As the site is prone to flooding, the purchase of a rotovator has also been immensely helpful in enabling us to dig and maintain the plot. And we have created some raised beds to separate the crops, which this year have included lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, leeks, cucumbers, potatoes and much more. 

A sense of community and wellbeing 

Connecting local people and reducing social isolation through this productive green space was an important objective for us. And we have noticed that as people have worked alongside each other, growing and tending the vegetables, barriers have been broken and friendships have been made.  

Some people just like to come a sit with us to enjoy the green space, have a chat and a cup of tea, and that in itself is a joy.  

In the early stages of the project, high winds and flooding hit us hard and damaged our crops and our poly tunnel. The other allotment holders helped us to rebuild and donated plants and seeds to replace our damaged goods. The sense of community spirit was simply amazing. 

Changing behaviours 

Learning to how to harvest, prepare and cook these fabulous fresh ingredients was another vital part of our vision. Using some of our key crops including potatoes, chard, garlic and onions, we have not only educated people about the nutritional value of fresh produce, but taught them how to cook tasty, healthy meals.  

We want to reach as many local people as we can, so as well as making fresh soups that we give to homeless and elderly residents, we also feed children for free in our café. We love helping them understand how their food grows; how different it tastes to frozen or fast food and all delicious and healthy meals you can make with fresh produce.  

We now have around 50 local people that come to us for our veggies, and we have started to make handouts of recipes so they can learn to make tasty dishes at home.   

We can see that eating healthier food has brought about changes in their attitudes to what they eat. The pride in growing their own food and the confidence to make it into delicious, healthy meals is changing the neighborhoods way of thinking.   

Our Grow Cook Eat project – funded by Public Health North Northamptonshire – includes a dedicated pot of funding for 2024-2025. That means we have grants of up to £3,000 for community groups and not for profit organisations in the north of the county. These grants are designed to help groups and people expand their cooking confidence and skills, tackle obesity, and are also about giving people access to green spaces and revitalising communities. 

Visit https://www.groundwork.org.uk/northamptonshire/grow-cook-eat-2024/ and scroll to the bottom of this web page for grant forms and details or email growcookeat@groundwork.org.uk.