Groundwork Northamptonshire joins nationwide Seed Relay

Young people in foster placements from across the UK travelled to Northamptonshire this month for a day of outdoor activities and team building at Twywell Hills & Dales Country Park.

The visit, arranged by Nexus Fostering and managed by locLocal charity Groundwork Northamptonshire has been selected as a key partner in Garden Organic’s special Heritage Seed Library (HSL) 50th anniversary celebration – a unique ‘Seed Relay’ that will see precious heritage vegetable seeds shared, sown and saved across the UK.

The charity will be stop 14 of 21 in this commemorative journey, which kicks off on 15th October with a 180-mile+ relay from Bocking in Essex, where the seed of the HSL was first sown five decades ago. The golden heritage seed parcel is expected to arrive at Groundwork Northamptonshire around mid-November.

This giant ‘pass-the-parcel’ event will see precious heritage seeds from the nationally important living library shared among key individuals, organisations, and communities across England, highlighting the vitally important work of preserving food security and genetic diversity in an era of food shortages and climate change.

Kate Williams, Chief Executive of Groundwork Northamptonshire, said: “We’re thrilled to be part of this incredible celebration of heritage seed conservation. This relay perfectly aligns with our commitment to environmental sustainability and community engagement through projects including our Green Doctor and Grow Cook Eat programmes and our award-winning Green Patch community garden in Kettering.

“Heritage seeds represent our agricultural past and are crucial for our food future. By participating in this relay, we’re helping to preserve genetic diversity that could be vital for adapting to climate change. We look forward to growing out these special seeds and sharing the story with our community volunteers and the young people we work with.”

The Heritage Seed Library is the only living library of heritage vegetables in the UK, and the only seed library that conserves food by sharing precious heritage seeds with gardeners and communities. By ‘growing out’ seeds with community partners across the UK, these varieties become more resilient and better adapted to climate change and local conditions.

Groundwork Northamptonshire’s involvement in the Seed Relay builds on the charity’s extensive work in environmental conservation and community growing projects – from helping with energy efficiency and home wellness through Green Doctors, to food growing and cooking through Grow Cook Eat, which is funded by Public Health North Northamptonshire.

The charity’s Green Patch community garden, which has benefited from lottery funding for the past two years, regularly hosts school clubs, volunteer days, and community events, making it an ideal location for growing and showcasing heritage varieties.

Once the seed parcel arrives, Groundwork Northamptonshire will carefully tend to their specially selected heritage seeds throughout the growing season, harvesting them in late summer/autumn 2026 and collecting seeds to continue the conservation cycle.

The organisation will share updates about the growing process on social media using #SeedRelay and #SeedStories, helping to raise awareness about the importance of heritage seed conservation and the work of the Heritage Seed Library.

For more information about Groundwork Northamptonshire’s environmental projects and community work, visit: www.groundwork.org.uk/northamptonshire

To follow the Seed Relay journey, follow @gardenorganicuk and @heritageseedlibrary on social media and visit https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/HSL-50 from 15th October 2025.