The story so far

In 2001 the Local Government Association published, "Growing in the community, a good practice guide for the management of allotments". This publication, along with some significant changes to planning policy, has been the major outcome of the 1998 Select Committee Inquiry into "The Future for Allotments". Growing in the Community recommends partnership working and strategic thinking.

ARI's point of departure has been to use Growing in the Community's recommendations as it's core. ARI's partners had previously worked together on a steering group during the writing of Growing in the community. ARI adopted and formalised this partnership. The Steering Group of representatives from the partners has managed ARI's strategic direction, with FCFCG additionally taking on day to day project and staff management

Whilst not a membership organisation, since it's inception, ARI has collated a database of organisations and individuals interested in allotment regeneration. To date almost 3,000 entries have been registered. The users themselves have helped shape the ARI programme: research, feedback and suggestions from users have helped form the ARI programme to become a service that reflects it's users needs. All contacts receive a regular copy of the ARI newsletter, publications order form, invitations to events and are encouraged to engage with ARI services on an ongoing supportive basis to develop a supportive network.

ARI's current funding expires in March 2007. The ARI Steering Group fully intends to continue the project beyond that date in order to continue to support allotment regeneration. The Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens, which manages ARI on a day-to-day basis, has agreed to be involved with ARI after March 2007. ARI's future is very bright: we are currently looking for funding opportunities to help us carry on our work programme in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

"We would like to express our thanks to Allotment Regeneration Initiative staff firstly for always being on the end of the phone or e mail when we needed advice, for providing one of our volunteers with two excellent training days, for the superb web site which we used one day back in July 05 to guide us round the allotments of Bristol, for providing us first class local Mentor support and best of all a travel bursary to attend a project in Swindon working with vulnerable adults. We gained some useful ideas on recruitment and referral for own our project and saw some good best practise examples of allotment management and landscaping" Kevin Chubb, Inroads Go! Allotment Project for people with drug and substance mis-use issues