Mayor awards Capital Growth's food growing 'heroes'
London garden heroes awarded as further food growing grants round is opened
Five 'garden heroes' who have gone the extra mile to improve their local environment and get fellow Londoners growing food, have received an award from the Mayor of London Boris Johnson.
The green-fingered individuals were nominated by their own communities for the Capital Growth award recognising their inspiring efforts to create food gardens overflowing with fruit and veg.
The top gardeners have been awarded the status ‘Garden Hero of 2011’ for their sterling work to highlight the benefits of growing your own in terms of improving local neighbourhoods, bonding communities together and providing volunteering opportunities. The winning garden heroes will receive a certificate, a grant for the food growing space they participate in and a training course of their choice. Furthermore, a £10 voucher is being given to those who nominated the Garden Heroes.
The Mayor also announced that £34,000 is being made available through the latest round of Capital Growth small grants, helping to inspire more Londoners to get the gardening bug. Any community group in the capital with a plot of land ready to grow food can apply for up to £750 to kick-start their food-growing efforts. Anyone wishing to apply should go to www.capitalgrowth.org, the closing date for entries is 5pm January 16 2012. To date, approximately, half of Capital Growth’s 1464 community food-growing spaces have been helped out with a Capital Growth small grant. Grants are available to help to kick-start or expand a food-growing space by financing materials like seeds, plants, tools, soil or wood for raised beds.
The gardening heroes are:
Federico Filippi (Wandsworth) volunteer with the Garden Partners scheme, run by Age UK Wandsworth, through which he volunteers at a sheltered housing scheme, Mount Court, in Putney. Federico has been establishing an organic vegetable garden in partnership with residents at Mount Court in Putney.
Mikala Turner (Greenwich) has transformed Bannockburn Primary School’s food-growing space, engaging the children with gardening in creative ways such as building scarecrows and garden furniture from scratch. This led to a surge of enthusiasm from the children and the need to set up two after-school gardening clubs.
Tom Whitemore (Islington) has been volunteering to turn around a food-growing space in a sheltered housing scheme in Islington and has brought back into use an underused roof terrace which is now brimming with foodstuffs. He has also engaged residents who are unable to garden by teaching them basic computer skills and setting up a gardening blog for them to contribute to.
Chris Wilde (Lewisham) has been volunteering at Sydenham Gardens for over a year. He has worked in the gardens, nature reserve and allotments and learnt bee-keeping skills to use in his volunteering work. He is being awarded for bringing together co-workers and volunteers.
The Mayor, Boris Johnson, said: 'These green fingered, community-minded Londoners epitomise the true spirit of the capital. I hope these individuals will inspire other Londoners to dust off their wellies and get out into their local community to make a difference.
'In addition, this latest cash incentive will be an added boost to encourage more people than ever to sign up to Capital Growth and join my Team London volunteer army.'
Paola Guzman, from London Food Link, said: ‘More than 35,000 people are now involved in community food-growing spaces through the Capital Growth scheme. These inspiring gardeners we are awarding today are just a handful of the amazing people volunteering right across our city to transform old, abandoned and derelict sites into spaces brimming with healthy fruit and veg. With just over a year to go to reach our Olympic year target of 2012 growing places, now is the time to get involved.'
Federico Filippi one of the Garden Heroes said: 'Capital Growth provides willing Londoners a much-needed opportunity to engage in productive, sustainable food-growing projects. As an Age UK Wandsworth volunteer working at a sheltered housing estate, I have had the opportunity to involve the elderly residents, other charities and the local community in what will hopefully be a model agro-ecological project in the heart of Putney. I very much looking forward to the training I have been awarded through the Garden Hero of 2011.'
Previous grant rounds to date have offered financial help to pay for materials and equipment such as tools, soil, compost, and wood for raised beds. Capital Growth provides a practical response to the rising interest in ‘grow your own’ and to the fact that lengthening waiting lists for allotments that can be decades long.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
For further information on the garden heroes and their projects contact Paola Guzman at paola@sustainweb.org or 0203 5596 777.
Capital Growth was launched in 2008 by charity London Food Link with the Mayor, and is funded by the Mayor of London and by the Local Food programme, a £57.5 million funding programme supported by the Big Lottery Fund. It is managed by London Food Link, part of the environment charity, Sustain. The programme was awarded a Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Commendation in 2010 for its success in getting communities growing. For further information go to www.capitalgrowth.org.
To apply for a Capital Growth small grant, visit: www.capitalgrowth.org.
Boosting the amount of locally grown food in London has a range of health and environmental benefits, such as improving access to nutritious, low cost food in urban areas and helping to increase flood protection. It also reduces food miles and cuts carbon emissions. There is rising interest in self-grown food and inner London boroughs have waiting lists for allotments that can be decades long.
The Mayor sees Capital Growth as a key part of his Team London initiative to encourage Londoner’s to get engaged with volunteering in their communities. Team London is the Mayor’s ambitious programme to mobilise an army of volunteers across the capital to improve life in London through programmes that will reduce crime, increase opportunities for youth and improve quality of life by cleaning and greening London and building stronger neighbourhoods. Since 2008, the Mayor's programmes have galvanised tens of thousands of Londoners into action and Team London is now seeking to encourage an additional 10,000 volunteers by May 2012. www.london.gov.uk/teamlondon.
The top gardeners have been awarded the status ‘Garden Hero of 2011’ for their sterling work to highlight the benefits of growing your own in terms of improving local neighbourhoods, bonding communities together and providing volunteering opportunities. The winning garden heroes will receive a certificate, a grant for the food growing space they participate in and a training course of their choice. Furthermore, a £10 voucher is being given to those who nominated the Garden Heroes.
The Mayor also announced that £34,000 is being made available through the latest round of Capital Growth small grants, helping to inspire more Londoners to get the gardening bug. Any community group in the capital with a plot of land ready to grow food can apply for up to £750 to kick-start their food-growing efforts. Anyone wishing to apply should go to www.capitalgrowth.org, the closing date for entries is 5pm January 16 2012. To date, approximately, half of Capital Growth’s 1464 community food-growing spaces have been helped out with a Capital Growth small grant. Grants are available to help to kick-start or expand a food-growing space by financing materials like seeds, plants, tools, soil or wood for raised beds.
The gardening heroes are:
Federico Filippi (Wandsworth) volunteer with the Garden Partners scheme, run by Age UK Wandsworth, through which he volunteers at a sheltered housing scheme, Mount Court, in Putney. Federico has been establishing an organic vegetable garden in partnership with residents at Mount Court in Putney.
Mikala Turner (Greenwich) has transformed Bannockburn Primary School’s food-growing space, engaging the children with gardening in creative ways such as building scarecrows and garden furniture from scratch. This led to a surge of enthusiasm from the children and the need to set up two after-school gardening clubs.
Tom Whitemore (Islington) has been volunteering to turn around a food-growing space in a sheltered housing scheme in Islington and has brought back into use an underused roof terrace which is now brimming with foodstuffs. He has also engaged residents who are unable to garden by teaching them basic computer skills and setting up a gardening blog for them to contribute to.
Chris Wilde (Lewisham) has been volunteering at Sydenham Gardens for over a year. He has worked in the gardens, nature reserve and allotments and learnt bee-keeping skills to use in his volunteering work. He is being awarded for bringing together co-workers and volunteers.
The Mayor, Boris Johnson, said: 'These green fingered, community-minded Londoners epitomise the true spirit of the capital. I hope these individuals will inspire other Londoners to dust off their wellies and get out into their local community to make a difference.
'In addition, this latest cash incentive will be an added boost to encourage more people than ever to sign up to Capital Growth and join my Team London volunteer army.'
Paola Guzman, from London Food Link, said: ‘More than 35,000 people are now involved in community food-growing spaces through the Capital Growth scheme. These inspiring gardeners we are awarding today are just a handful of the amazing people volunteering right across our city to transform old, abandoned and derelict sites into spaces brimming with healthy fruit and veg. With just over a year to go to reach our Olympic year target of 2012 growing places, now is the time to get involved.'
Federico Filippi one of the Garden Heroes said: 'Capital Growth provides willing Londoners a much-needed opportunity to engage in productive, sustainable food-growing projects. As an Age UK Wandsworth volunteer working at a sheltered housing estate, I have had the opportunity to involve the elderly residents, other charities and the local community in what will hopefully be a model agro-ecological project in the heart of Putney. I very much looking forward to the training I have been awarded through the Garden Hero of 2011.'
Previous grant rounds to date have offered financial help to pay for materials and equipment such as tools, soil, compost, and wood for raised beds. Capital Growth provides a practical response to the rising interest in ‘grow your own’ and to the fact that lengthening waiting lists for allotments that can be decades long.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
For further information on the garden heroes and their projects contact Paola Guzman at paola@sustainweb.org or 0203 5596 777.
Capital Growth was launched in 2008 by charity London Food Link with the Mayor, and is funded by the Mayor of London and by the Local Food programme, a £57.5 million funding programme supported by the Big Lottery Fund. It is managed by London Food Link, part of the environment charity, Sustain. The programme was awarded a Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Commendation in 2010 for its success in getting communities growing. For further information go to www.capitalgrowth.org.
To apply for a Capital Growth small grant, visit: www.capitalgrowth.org.
Boosting the amount of locally grown food in London has a range of health and environmental benefits, such as improving access to nutritious, low cost food in urban areas and helping to increase flood protection. It also reduces food miles and cuts carbon emissions. There is rising interest in self-grown food and inner London boroughs have waiting lists for allotments that can be decades long.
The Mayor sees Capital Growth as a key part of his Team London initiative to encourage Londoner’s to get engaged with volunteering in their communities. Team London is the Mayor’s ambitious programme to mobilise an army of volunteers across the capital to improve life in London through programmes that will reduce crime, increase opportunities for youth and improve quality of life by cleaning and greening London and building stronger neighbourhoods. Since 2008, the Mayor's programmes have galvanised tens of thousands of Londoners into action and Team London is now seeking to encourage an additional 10,000 volunteers by May 2012. www.london.gov.uk/teamlondon.
Published Saturday 31 December 2011
London Food Link: London Food Link brings together community food enterprises and projects that are working to make good food accessible to everyone in London to help create a healthy, sustainable and ethical food system for all.
