PartnershipsAbout UK partnerships
Care Farming UK
Care Farming UK (which has developed out of the former National Care Farming Initiative) was created to promote the concept and effectiveness of care farming and to co-ordinate, support and resource the work of individuals, businesses and charities already working in this area. Care Farming UK wants to provide a voice and supportive services for care farmers, to inspire decision makers and to develop policies and actions that will support care farming in the UK. Its vision is to see thriving farms and landscapes providing social, educational, therapeutic and development opportunities.
The Federation is involved in a number of partnerships and consortiums. Working with other organisations in this way allows the Federation to extend its influence and range of work much further than would be possible by working on its own.
Many of these initiatives have direct benefits for our members and help to raise the profile of issues such as sustainability, healthy eating, education, social enterprise and neighbourhood regeneration, that our members tackle at grass-roots level.
Below is an outline of our main partnerships and the initiatives we are involved in. Our schools and education partnerships can be accessed via the Education tab in the main menu above.
The Big Dig
The Big Dig, a nationwide project to get people growing food together, involves working with new and established community growing projects. The Big Dig helps communities develop new sites and aims to attract volunteers from communities who traditionally do not volunteer. The project, funded by the Cabinet Office's Social Action Fund, will also be running a series of open days and events to encourage another 13,000 people to get down to their local growing site.
Initially covering six cities – Brighton, Coventry, London, Manchester, Middlesbrough and Sheffield - there are now 22 cities and towns involved. Organisations in each of the cities provide advice and training to volunteers, helping them to create vibrant community food gardens.
FCFCG has been supporting and advising groups in the six cities on development and land issues (the latter via the Community Land Advisory Service, an independent project managed by FCFCG). The Big Dig is being run by Sustain.
Visit The Big Dig website for more about events, workshops and the organisations involved. You can also find information via The Big Dig Facebook page (you do not need to be a member of Facebook to view information).
Local Food
Local Food aims to help make locally grown food more accessible and affordable to local communities. The Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens led the development of the £57.5m programme. The main Local Food website is at www.localfoodgrants.org
For details of FCFCG's own Local Food Project to support new, emerging and established community growing groups to grow food sustainably, see the page below:
Allotments Regeneration Initiative
ARI was launched by FCFCG on behalf of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation in 2002. ARI's aim was to support and develop allotments regeneration and the creation of brand new allotment sites in the UK, and gather and disseminate information about good practice in allotments management. The initiative is now being wound down, with aspects of its work to continued by FCFCG and the National Society for Allotment and Leisure Gardeners. The ARI website will continue as a legacy to provide information resources for people interested in allotments.
Local Food Global Food
Local Food Global Food is a two-year project funded by the Big Lottery's Local Food Programme, which will work across England to explore ways of linking black and minority ethnic (BME) communities with local food growing opportunities and organisations.
A partnership between FCFCG and the Black Environment Network, it will provide support and training to staff and volunteers at local community food growing projects to reach out and engage effectively with BME groups using healthy heating, cultural celebration and the sharing of knowledge and skills as the main areas of focus.
