TOTNES does The BIG DIG
A national organisation called Sustain is encouraging more urban communities to
extend community food growing within towns and cities across the country.
As it looks likely that in the future we will increasingly have to rely on
growing fruit and vegetables within villages and towns and cities, to free farm land
for other needs [cereals,woodlands, wilderness etc.], this is a welcome trend.
Several community food-growing ventures that already exist in and around Totnes , including Leechwell and Lamb gardens [Totnes Development Trust],three of the Incredible Edible and tree-growing sites [Transition Town Totnes], and growing sites in Harbertonford and Allaleigh, are planning a week of volunteer events on the different gardens, between March 16th to 23rd, the national Big Dig week.
There will a variety of different gardening tasks to be done at these sites at that time of year, not all digging!
We hope these will be enjoyable community occasions, and there will be prizes for anyone who manages to work on all sites through the week. So far, 8 events planned within 8 days, and further details about exact times and places and contact people will be appearing soon.
Contacts: Catherine@gardeningforhealth.org.uk, or wendystt997@gmail.com
Press Release: Sustain - January, 2013.
The Big Dig Day – the biggest ever community gardening day
Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming [1] today announced that 24 towns and cities have signed up to be part in the biggest ever community gardening volunteering day on 16th March 2013.
200 gardens across England will be taking part. To date the Big Dig project [2] has recruited 5,000 new volunteers and created over 18,000 opportunities for volunteers to take part in community gardening. The Big Dig Day will hope to tap into and channel the enthusiasm that exists both for gardening and volunteering and promote the positive effects that this can have on the health and well-being of individuals and their communities.
Linda Cleave, a volunteer from the People’s Community Garden in Southampton is in her 70's and has been coming to the garden for about 3 years. She had significant health problems in her childhood. She is a widow and both her grown-up children live elsewhere. Linda says: “Everything I do is solitary, and I wanted to meet people. I feel I have a use – that I am putting something back into the community. I need fresh air and exercise for my health – and to keep going. So if I have something to get me up and out in the morning – like the People’s Community Garden – it’s great for me!” [3]
The Big Dig’s Clare Horrell said “We are delighted with the enthusiasm that our partner towns and cities have shown in taking part in the Big Dig volunteering day. We want to use the Big Dig Day to get thousands of new people involved and reap the positive effects that a community garden can have on them individually and on their communities”
Carlton Smith, Chief Executive of the Bradford Community Environment Project said "We are delighted to be part of the Big Dig and are looking forward to welcoming new people to our gardens. Working with your local community or creating your own space to grow fruit and vegetables is good for you physically, spiritually and is good for your pocket. Food growing is fun and a great way to meet new people. We want more people to experience the benefits to their health and well-being that comes from community gardening.”
Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, said ““The Big Dig has a fantastic record of engaging people in community gardening and this event will provide a real focus to help get even more people involved. The Olympics showed how much of a positive difference people can make by giving their time through volunteering and we should harness some of this enthusiasm to help the amazing range of community gardens that we have”.
ENDS
For more information please contact Clare Horrell or Seb Mayfield on 020 7837 1228 or clare@sustainweb.org or seb@sustainweb.org or go to www.bigdig.org.uk
Editorial Notes
1. The Big Dig is co-ordinated nationally by Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming which advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity. Sustain represents around 100 national public interest organisations working at international, national, regional and local level.
2. The Big Dig is is a nationwide project which aims to engage over 10,000 people in community food-growing projects across England. The following organisations are leading The Big Dig in the following towns and cities:
• Bath – Transition Bath
• Birmingham - Representatives of six food growing initiatives are currently leading the group. More information about the group can be found through Growing Birmingham
• Blackpool – Grow Blackpool
• Bournemouth and Poole - Ruralworks
• Bradford – Bradford City Council and Bradford Community Environment Project
• Brighton & Hove – Brighton & Hove Food Partnership
• Bristol – Sims Hill Shared Harvest
• Chippenham & Swindon – Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
• Coventry – Garden Organic
• Falkirk – Friends of the Earth
• Ipswich - ActivGardens
• London – Capital Growth
• Manchester – The Kindling Trust
• Middlesbrough – Middlesbrough Environment City
• Newcastle – Food Nation
• Nottingham - Nottingham City Council Parks and Open Spaces Services
• Oxford – Community Action Groups Project
• Sheffield – Grow Sheffield
• Southampton - Catch 22
• Southend on Sea – Trust Links
• Totnes Totnes Development Trust, Transition Town Totnes and Landmatters
• Taunton – Taunton Transition Town
• Walsall – Walsall Council
The Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens is also a partner in the project and is providing advice to community groups on land issues as well as organising training sessions. The project builds on the success of Capital Growth which has helped over 60,000 people to get involved in new community food-growing spaces in London. Capital Growth’s Edible Open Garden’s event in 2011 attracted over 1,500 visitors to community growing spaces in the capital.
Follow The Big Dig on twitter @thebigdiguk, or visit our website www.bigdig.org.uk
3. Interviews with volunteers are available on request.
4. The Big Dig is funded by the Social Action Fund and is managed by The Social Investment Business, on behalf of the Cabinet Office. The Fund supports social action projects in England from civil society organisations, public sector bodies and businesses with a track record of running social action programmes. The Social Action Fund is part of a broader programme of support for social action that was announced in the Giving White Paper and takes its place alongside two other sources of funding - Innovation in Giving Fund and Challenge Prizes.
5. The March Big Dig Day takes place on 16th March 2013. Volunteer opportunities and events will be taking place across all the gardens involved in the Big Dig to make it the largest ever community food growing volunteer action day.
6. The Big Dig is supported by Compost Direct who are providing in-kind support and prizes for each of the cities. Seeds are also being provided by Unwins Organics and the Heritage Seed Library,
For more information please contact Clare Horrell or Seb Mayfield on 020 7837 1228 or clare@sustainweb.org or seb@sustainweb.org or go to www.bigdig.org.uk
Totnes Digs Big during Big Dig Week the biggest ever community gardening event. Mar.16th-23rd 2013.
Four community groups within Totnes have signed up to take part in a week of community
gardening activities, part of the national Big Dig organised by Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming. Totnes will be one of 24 towns and cities participating in the event, which starts on Saturday March 16th and will see 200 gardens across England receiving love and attention from volunteers old and new.
The Parsonage Gardens, Totnes Development Trust, Landmatters and Transition Town Totnes are teaming up to coordinate volunteers across their various growing spaces, offering 7 activities throughout the week, from 16th to 23rd March. These will range from tending the fruit beds in the Old Parsonage garden at Harbertonford, to planting some fruit and nut trees in the forest garden at Follaton Arboretum.
To date the Big Dig project has recruited 5,000 new volunteers nationally and created over 18,000 opportunities for volunteers to take part in community gardening. The Big Dig Day will hope to tap into and channel the enthusiasm that exists both for gardening and volunteering and promote the positive effects that this can have on the health and wellbeing of individuals and their communities.
Wendy Stayte, coordinator for TTT’s Incredible Edible project, reflects on this week's events:
'A vision of Totnes as a more beautiful and fruitful place in the future sustains me through many a wet day of digging and planting in one or other of the growing sites now existing round this town. Some Totnesians will remember when orchards and market gardens filled the part of town now taken over by car parks. I hope this week of gardening events in Totnes will encourage more people to take part in making our common spaces more abundant, and enjoy gardening with others, perhaps learning new skills or teaching others what you know.'
Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, said ““The Big Dig has a fantastic record of engaging
people in community gardening and this event will provide a real focus to help get even more
people involved. The Olympics showed how much of a positive difference people can make by
giving their time through volunteering and we should harness some of this enthusiasm to help the amazing range of community gardens that we have”.
For more information please contact Catherine Munro of Gardening for Health at
Catherine@gardeningforhealth.org.uk Tel. 07582125438. Details of which gardens are holding
events on which days are available on the Big Dig website, and will be publicised in the town
nearer the day. Anyone wishing to take part should preferably sign up on the Big Dig website at www.bigdig.org.uk/totnes.
We also welcome anyone deciding to turn up on one of the day's events [other than to Landmatters who would require you to book prior to arriving please].
Laurel, Larch and Apple
from ‘The Lamb Garden’, ‘Follaton Arboretum’ and ‘The Parsonage
Gardens’
taking part in ‘The Big Dig’ Totnes.
Gardening for Health is joining forces with neighbouring community gardens for a special week long national volunteer’s event ‘The Big Dig’, which is funded by the Social Action Fund and co-ordinated by Sustain.
It aims to get the local community out and about, gardening for fun, with the opportunity to pick up some new skills – and meet new people along the way!
From 16th – 23rd March, you can enjoy 7 days of:
Tree planting to seed sowing; raised beds to rockeries; vegetables and soft fruit to the charms of the mystic Pergola - and even helping reclaim an unloved area of town for the community.
All events are free and you can register as a volunteer by going to www.bigdig.org.uk/totnes
Take a look at the table of events on offer. Just in time for Spring!
and view our page on facebook at ‘Totnes does the Big Dig’
We hope to see you there…
Press release: Tuesday 5th March
Celebrity gardener Alys Fowler gives her support to the country’s largest ever Big Dig
On Saturday 16th March, 270 gardens across 27 UK towns and cities are opening their gates to fledgling green-fingered enthusiasts. This will be the largest ever Big Dig community garden growing day, engaging thousands of people in volunteer-run food-growing projects.
Renowned gardener, Alys Fowler has been supporting Urban Veg, in Birmingham which is part of the Big Dig project. She believes the Big Dig Day offers a great introduction to gardening and says “If you fancy a go at gardening, but are a little unsure how to start, if you don't have any dirt of your own or you just want a fun day out meeting new people, now is the time to get involved with your local community growing project. The Big Dig wants to recruit as many volunteers as possible to get the nation growing, so on March 16th community gardens and growing spaces across the country will be opening their doors to welcome you in. So go along and find out for yourself and help make this the biggest ever community food growing day”
In the last year the number of cities involved has more than tripled and now includes community gardens across the country from Falkirk to Brighton and Taunton to Ipswich. Since the start of the project 3,800 people have volunteered at Big Dig sites and a further 600 people have volunteered who have never done any sort of volunteering activity before. Over 3,000 people have visited the gardens and 7,800 volunteering opportunities have been created; this year’s Big Dig is expected to attract thousands more.
Interest in where our food comes from and how it is produced has long been on the news agenda, and more so in recent weeks. Clare Horrell from the Big Dig said: “The horsemeat scandal has highlighted many problems in our food chain. One of the best ways to know where you food comes from is to grow it yourself. With huge allotment waiting lists, for those who don’t have a garden, getting involved in your local community growing space is a great way to get ‘own-grown’ produce.”
Community gardens offer much more than skills and knowledge about food and where it comes from. They provide a social space for people to meet and get to know each other. Many communities have turned pieces of derelict land into places that everyone can enjoy while getting more connected to the food they eat.
Elspeth Broady, Lead Volunteer at the London Road Station Garden in Brighton said: “We set up a station partnership with Southern Railway to use a plot of waste land for community benefit. Local volunteers can grow tasty seasonal produce here and compost their kitchen waste. Neighbours often drop by to see what we're doing - it's a real community garden. Working with Brighton & Hove Food Partnership and being part of the Big Dig links us in to other local and national projects - there's a wonderful supportive network out there for community growing.”
Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society said: ”“It is fantastic that so many gardens are taking part in the Big Dig Day and it’s great to see another successful project supported by our Social Action Fund. I hope that that the day acts as a real catalyst to show people the benefits of getting involved in their community”.
ENDS
Case studies, interviews and images available on request. Details about the 27 locations and the gardens taking part can be found at http://www.bigdig.org.uk/ For more information please contact Clare Horrell or Seb Mayfield on 020 7837 1228 or clare@sustainweb.org or seb@sustainweb.org.
Editorial Notes
1. The Big Dig Day is a national community garden volunteering event taking place as part of the Big Dig project http://www.bigdig.org.uk/
The Big Dig is co-ordinated nationally by Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming which advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity. Sustain represents around 100 national public interest organisations working at international, national, regional and local level. http://www.sustainweb.org/
The Big Digis a nationwide project which aims to engage over 10,000 people in community food-growing projects across England. The following organisations are leading The Big Dig in towns and cities around the UK:
• Bath – Transition Bath
• Birmingham - Representatives of six food growing initiatives are currently leading the group. More information about the group can be found through Growing Birmingham
• Blackpool – Grow Blackpool
• Bournemouth and Poole - Ruralworks
• Bradford – Bradford City Council and Bradford Community Environment Project
• Brighton & Hove – Brighton & Hove Food Partnership
• Bristol – Sims Hill Shared Harvest
• Chippenham&Swindon – Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
• Congleton – Congleton Sustainability Group
• Coventry – Garden Organic
• Falkirk – Friends of the Earth
• Hastings & St Leonards – Moveable Feast, Bohemia Walled Garden and The Bridge
• Ipswich –ActivGardens
• Liverpool – National Wildlife Centre
• London – Capital Growth
• Manchester – The Kindling Trust
• Middlesbrough – Middlesbrough Environment City
• Newcastle – Food Nation
• Nottingham - Nottingham City Council Parks and Open Spaces Services
• Oxford – Community Action Groups Project
• Sheffield – Grow Sheffield
• Southampton - Catch 22
• Southend on Sea – Trust Links
• Totnes- Totnes Development Trust, Transition Town Totnes and Landmatters
• Taunton –Taunton Transition Town
• Walsall – Walsall Council
The Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens is also a partner in the project and is providing advice to community groups on land issues as well as organising training sessions.
The Big Dig is funded by the Social Action Fund and is managed by The Social Investment Business, on behalf of the Cabinet Office. The Fund supports social action projects in England from civil society organisations, public sector bodies and businesses with a track record of running social action programmes. The Social Action Fund is part of a broader programme of support for social action that was announced in the Giving White Paper and takes its place alongside two other sources of funding - Innovation in Giving Fund and Challenge Prizes.
The Big Dig is supported by Compost Direct who are providing in-kind support and prizes for each of the cities. Seeds are also being provided by Unwins Organics and the Heritage Seed Library.
Follow The Big Dig on twitter @thebigdiguk, or visit our website www.bigdig.org.uk
Calling all diggers and food lovers!
Wendy Stayte.
