Growing Communities' Start-Up Programme

Do you want to bring more locally and sustainably produced food to your community?

We are looking for groups and individuals to join our Start-Up Programme this May to set up new community-led organic box schemes across the UK based on the Growing Communities' model. "We know there are lots of communities and individuals all over the UK who understand that we need to act now to create the local food initiatives that are going make our food system more sustainable and resilient in the face of the challenges of climate change and resource depletion" said Julie Brown, Growing Communities' director.

For more details of the Programme please go to the Growing Communities' Start-Up website. Closing date for Expression of Interest forms is 18 June.

Growing Communities has been developing the materials, training and web-tools with which to help other groups set up community-led box schemes over the last year.   We now have a dedicated Start-Up website to show groups who are interested in joining the programme what is involved and how they can get started.

We are looking to work with up to five groups in 2010 and those groups who are selected will receive detailed training and mentoring.

We will be selecting groups in mid-June - so you need to get started by looking at the Start-Up website now!

We know that our community-led box scheme works and provides sustainably produced food, support for local farmers and jobs in our community - we now want to see how it can work in other communities.

Julie Brown, director, Growing Communities