We are working together to support all London schools to use food growing to boost learning; encourage healthy and sustainable choices; and connect communities.
Entries are now open!
The RHS Campaign for School Gardening are on the lookout for the most inspirational young gardeners, educators and gardening teams in the UK.
You can read about last year’s finalists and winners here.
Prizes for finalists and winners in 2018 include a stunning Gabriel Ash greenhouse worth £3,425, Gabriel Ash Coldframes, £500 in vouchers, garden tools and unique opportunities to work with RHS and TV gardeners.
See their website for full details.
Are you ready to be part of the UK’s largest wildflower initiative, by bringing people together to transform a space in your community with native wildflowers?
UK native wildflowers in your school growing space will look beautiful and are a great way to encourage essential pollinators and wildlife to help your garden grow!
Grow Wild with Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, are offering one quarter of their seed kits to schools this year.
In the UK we’re lucky to have some amazing wildflowers. Bringing people together, getting active, growing as a group and giving back through volunteering can all improve health and wellbeing. Plus by creating these pockets of wild beauty for your neighbors and friends, you will be contributing to their wellbeing too.
Applications close at the end of February 2018. Apply here.
Project Learning Garden provides free starter kits to schools with everything they need to start or refresh a food growing garden and use it as an outdoor classroom.
Schools are provided with free hands-on training, curriculum linked resources, raised beds and gardening tools, a cooking kit and ongoing support and guidance.
Project Learning Garden is looking to take 10 new schools on board in Bexley and Southwark. Schools in Merton can also apply.
For more information and to apply please visit the Garden Organic website
https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/project-learning-garden-captain-planet-foundation
On 6 February 2018 students from four schools in Southwark will be setting up shop amongst the iconic arches of Borough Market for the Young Marketeers Winter Sale.
The young entrepreneurs will be selling deliciously warming bowls of home-made soup made using surplus veg and freshly bread baked. All money raised will go to food waste charity, FareShare.
To prepare for sale day, students visited the FareShare depot in London where they witnessed the absurdity of food waste and heard about the charities that help to redistribute good food to those who need it most.
In January they will head to Borough Market for a soup masterclass with food teacher Michaela Bowles and bake bread with Bread Ahead.
Make sure to stop in on 6 Feb to support these Young Marketeers!
Find out more about School Food Matters and the Young Marketeers.
Working towards a Soil Association Food for Life award provides evidence that you are supporting Ofsted’s Common Inspection Framework requirement for children to keep themselves healthy and the good news is that schools who are part of the Food Growing Schools: London programme may already be well on their way to an award.
To recognise this achievement we’re offering 10% off an Awards Pack to Food Growing Schools: London for a limited time only.
If you’d like to learn more, you can visit the Food for Life website here, or have a chat with one of the friendly Food for Life team by calling 0117 314 5180.
Once you decide that Food for Life is right for your school, visit https://www.foodforlife.org.uk/registration/enrol and enter the discount code FGSL10 at checkout.
The offer is valid until 28 February 2018.
Order your free pack of saplings from 15 January for planting with pupils on your school grounds next winter: http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/free-trees/.
State primary schools which haven’t ordered tree packs previously, or for a long time, are eligible to apply.
This is a fantastic opportunity to get your children outside to learn about nature, improve the local environment at your school and create a much needed home for our urban wildlife. Packs as small as 30 saplings are available, so you don’t need much space to get involved!
Trees for Cities will provide all the necessary support to make you feel confident in planting and caring for your new saplings. They are the London delivery partner for the ‘Trees for Schools’ programme, funded by Defra and delivered in partnership with the Woodland Trust.
Please contact Trees for Cities for more information on 02075871320 or
As part of the ongoing work to support healthy lifestyles and positive mental wellbeing in schools, a workshop has been organised to raise awareness of the Food Growing Schools: London Project.
Food growing has been on the curriculum since the update in 2015 and it can be used to teach children so many other topics in relation to science, numeracy, literacy, geography, history, etc.
The workshop will be held on Monday 29 January 2018 at Bexley Civic Offices, Room G08 from 4-5.30pm. It will be facilitated by from Food Growing Schools and Pascale Berthellet.
The focus will be about food growing and how this links to health and wellbeing. There is a growing body of evidence that examines the link between food growing and mental wellbeing. For example, a food growing project can help build new skills that improve self-confidence and self-esteem, while building social networks and enhancing social inclusion. It would also be a good way to implement the 5 Ways to wellbeing.
If you feel that you or a colleague would benefit from this workshop, please email or fax the application form to Louise Tse by Monday 22 January 2018.
For more information and to get a copy of the application form feel free to contact Louise.
Louise Tse
Public Health Obesity Lead- Tel: 0203 045 3331
Pascale Berthellet
Public Health Advisor for Children & Young People- Tel: 0203 045 3831
Capital Growth are recruiting Training Hubs for 2018, to host food-growing training, Big Dig and Urban Harvest events.
Feedback from 2017 hubs has shown this was a great opportunity to “share knowledge”, “be part of a London wide network” and reach out to “people new to the garden”.
Find out more and download the application form at http://www.capitalgrowth.org/london_grows/.
Deadline: Monday 15 Jan
