In order to raise the profile and promote the type of services provided by care farms - and to lobby on their behalf - we need to update the information we hold so we can create a more accurate picture of the sector across the UK. If you’re...
We like useful news items, but we also know our groups and supporters often feel overwhelmed by the amount of information out there. That's why these pages give our members (and anyone else interested) only the most relevant stories.
So call back for regular updates on our work, funding and income, land issues, Government policy, new initiatives, valuable research and, sometimes, a few quirky stories that might tickle your interest!
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On Monday this week our very own SF&G Wales Manager Gary Mitchell (also of South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team, and Assistant Chair to the British Cave Rescue Council) was awarded a Royal Decoration of the Kingdom of Thailand at a ceremony in the...
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As part of our 40th Anniversary, we are celebrating the breadth, variety and impact of our incredible members through sharing 40 stories with a different theme each month.
Our first story comes from Scotswood Natural Community Garden. ...
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This year Social Farms & Gardens are celebrating 40 years of farming, gardening and growing together.
2020 will be packed full of activities to celebrate the 40th. From monthly events UK wide including the European Federation of City Farms...
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We’re celebrating 40 years of supporting communities to farm, garden and grow together. This is your chance to recognise the local groups and organisations that are improving the health and wellbeing of individuals, communities and the environment...
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London culture magazine 'Huck' has its finger on the pulse for community matters in London. This month they interviewed Social Farms & Gardens for their article 'Force of nature: the battle to save London’s green spaces'.
Writer Jessica...
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Great news for the Social Farms & Gardens project ‘Growing Resilience’ this month, as additional funding from the lottery is confirmed. This important funding will enable the charity to expand the project, supporting even more community gardens in...
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Mae’n bleser gan Ffermydd a Gerddi Cymunedol gyhoeddi ei wobrau mannau gwyrdd a reolir gan y gymuned cyntaf. Mae’r gwobrau yn ddiweddglo blwyddyn gyntaf o gyllid gan Lywodraeth Cymru i’r Gwasanaeth Cynghori ar Dir Cymunedol Cymru.
Bydd 12...
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Social Farms and Gardens is pleased to announce its first community managed green spaces awards. The awards are the culmination of the first year of funding from the Welsh Government to the Community Land Advisory Service Cymru.
12 communities...
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We are delighted to announce that Social Farms & Gardens has been selected to lead the 'Growing Care Farming' Project.
This project is part of the £10m Children and Nature Programme being supported by Defra, funded by the Department of...
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For many people arriving to seek asylum in the UK, community growing spaces can offer vital and unique opportunities to find community, improve mental and physical health and to learn and share skills. These resources have been designed to encourage...
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The School Farm Awards 2018, held on Monday 2 July, celebrated and recognised the achievements of school farms, their schools and students from across the country. The Education Alliance partners were delighted to again to hold the Awards at the Royal...
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Social Farms & Gardens has contributed to a Defra consultation on the future of food, farming and the environment in England, emphasising the role that city farms, care farms and community gardens already play in benefitting people and places -...
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A new organisation to support and promote land-based community development, green care and social care in the UK, has been officially launched by Lord Donald of Kirkharle today (April 24) at the opening of the Growing Better Lives conference in...
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Growing Better Lives 2018, a conference exploring and celebrating the links between community growing, care farming, health and wellbeing took place in Manchester in April 2018, sponsored by The Mayfield Partnership.
Aimed at community growing...
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CLAS Cymru, the community land initiative managed by the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens, has helped support a consortium of locally based volunteers, community enterprises and organisations in Newtown, Powys, to secure a £1.1 million...
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A partnership between SF&G and Northern Polytunnels now means our members have access to an exclusive discount company's Easy-Build polytunnel range. The deal is part of SF&G's ongoing work brokering discounts for its members and part of...
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Popular picture book character Stick Man is teaming up with local community groups across the UK to encourage urban children to get outdoors and explore the natural world. Fun-filled activity trails have been opened at five community growing sites...
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Here's a heart warming story that shows what communities and businesses can do when they work together. After thieves broke into Hulme Community Garden Centre in Manchester recently, local businesses rallied around to help the group through the crisis...
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Local communities are being encouraged to have a ‘DIY summer’ future-proofing their local area and promoting the social, economic and environmental benefits of adopting a more sustainable lifestyle.
The advice is contained in a series of...
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The inspiring work of Scotland’s community gardens and how they help with improving healthier eating, wellbeing and education was given a boost when Angela Constance MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities visited...
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Farmer and TV presenter Adam Henson called on the agricultural sector to support the use of the farming environment in education to help create the next generation of people entering rural careers, at a recent conference to promote school farms and...
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MSP Mairi Evans has visited Brighter Bervie Community Garden in Aberdeenshire, as part of a drive to highlight the inspiring work of Scotland’s community gardens and their impact on healthy eating, wellbeing and education.
Brighter Bervie is...
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A ‘Learning Partnership’ of five organisations with expertise in energy, buildings, land, local community organisations and behaviour change have today written an open letter to newly elected city region Mayors urging them to make good on the promise...
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Growing Together will play a role in creating a community garden as part of a major £850m redevelopment project in Manchester on the historic 24-acre Mayfield site near Piccadilly station, which will re-open to the public this month.
Growing...
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'Get Your Hands Dirty' a guide to growing plants and keeping animals at schools, has been re-published in a fully updated and revised edition. It is regarded as the key resource for teachers and governors who want to enhance learning opportunities and...
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The FCFCG-led partnership, Growing Together is delighted to have worked with the Community Land Advisory Service [CLAS] Scotland to provide this timely and important tool for communities in Scotland.
This resource provides information and...
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Our Scotland team have produced a number of resources for community growers in the country, drawing on examples from Scottish projects and providing links to country specific sources of further information and advice.
Recent examples include:...
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A new Natural England-funded project to demonstrate the enormous benefits of outdoor learning to children and develop a model(s) of using ‘hub’ schools to support and deliver teacher training, is now available.
The project, which is funded by...
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Care farming can become a key feature of the UK’s care provision and add millions to the rural economy, according to a new ‘State Of Play’ study unveiled by farming minister George Eustice on Wednesday, April 6.
During a visit to Boscawen care...
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New guidance aimed at sweeping away confusion around allotment law and helping get more communities growing their own food, has been published by the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens and the Community Land Advisory Service.
The...
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Urban green spaces, including city farms and community gardens, are not being used enough to help people living with dementia and their carers, according to a new report from Natural England.
In one of the biggest surveys of its kind so far,...
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A major new report shows compelling evidence that the ‘green care’ offered by many Federation of City Farm and Community Gardens members can help people with mental ill-health and contributes to a reduction in levels of anxiety, stress and depression...
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A new study has shown that just 30 minutes of gardening a week has a beneficial effect on mental health.
Researchers from Westminster and Essex universities questioned 269 gardeners and non-gardeners with the former describing their feelings...
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A new report produced by FCFCG shows that involvement in community growing can act as a ‘powerful tool’ to help vulnerable people, bring communities together and encourage people to adopt greener and healthier behaviours.
FCFCG has produced a...
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A Glasgow University study on community gardens in the city, including three Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens (FCFCG) members, has outlined their positive effect on individuals and communities.
Glasgow’s Community Gardens:...
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