Creating Greener, Stronger Neighbourhoods

Developing Green Community Hubs across the North of England

Part of the Northern Network, funded by the lottery community fund:

Currently in its pilot stage, this project will run until March 2023 and works with five other Groundwork trusts in the North of England to shine a spotlight on places identified as Green Community Hubs – a physical place within communities that are an anchor hub of information on all things food growing, permaculture, community focused and outdoor fun. Horton Community Farm, Cecil Avenue, Bradford, BD7 3BW who we are supporting with this project also concentrate on supporting asylum seeker and refugee groups, forest school and children’s activities, volunteering at the allotment, and mindfulness. Along with green community hub activities, there is an online version called the Northern Network (more info and free membership at www.northernnetwork.org ) which is a great source of information with case studies on what we’ve learnt throughout the pilot, as well as videos on creating a worm farm, cooking beetroot soup from the allotment, and advise on how to start a community group and other resources. If you would like to know more about what is going on at Horton Community Farm visit at www.hcf.org.uk

Allotments

We’ve worked for more than a decade down at Lady Pit lane Allotments in Beeston with various groups from those with learning difficulties, those requiring mental health support, job seekers, and those who were shielding during COVID who were newly accessing the outside world again.

Participants can expect to grow and eat fruit and veg from seeds, weed, propogate (use twigs and offcuts to make new plants), as well as build wooden herb boxes, play snooker, make scarecrows, repurpose plastic bottles into a new greenhouse, accompanied by cups of tea, of course! All food grown is shared by the group or given to food projects locally. 

Community Resilience Hub

https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/location?q=yorkshire

Are you looking to grow the resilience of your community? Through training and tailored support, Communities Prepared equips communities nationwide with the knowledge and confidence to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a range of emergencies, from flooding and severe weather incidents to pandemics.

Whether you’re already active and aware of these topics or are new to resilience training, you can join us for free as a community member, a volunteer coordinator or an individual professional by following the link

Supported Internship Programme

Our Supported Internship programme is a structured study programme based primarily in the horticulture work place. We strive to enable young people with a HCAP to achieve sustainable paid employment.

Learn new skills and study a range of qualifications, including:

• NOCN Level 1 Horticulture
• NOCN Level 3 Employability
• Entry Level 1 and 2 English and Maths

Gain confidence, learn to manage time effectively, work in a team and deal with stress and conflict in a proactive way.

The programme lasts for an academic year and is focused on the individual and their specific learning needs.