Hammersmith Academy isa secondary school in Shepherd’s Bush, with students who predominately come from disadvantaged backgrounds. In 2016 we set up a school garden which has had a big impact on the school. We started off the school garden to promote mental health and since then it has helped us to teach the students about food growing, it has helped us to link up with organisations in the community, provided opportunities for the students to do joint work with our local care home, and helped us to teach the students about the environment. The garden has been a huge asset in providing a conduit to build our students’ confidence, self-esteem and resilience. We also run a leadership development qualification through our garden programme which runs every day during tutor time from 11.30-12. The students run a whole school gardening programme and they do a fantastic job. They even grow food for Hammersmith and Fulham food bank which is incredible considering that most of these students live in apartments without access to outdoor space, not to mention the fact that they are in a very small school with limited space.