An overview - Growing Well Together

We guide, inspire, advise, showcase and represent hundreds of groups and organisations right across the UK.

We love giving practical support like site visits, training courses and networking events. If our members want guidance on important areas like employment issues, or governance training, or site design, or if they simply want to know the best way to build a raised veg bed, we are there to help. Through our Community Land Advisory Service, we are also able to offer support and guidance on land and planning issues. Our CLAS resources are available here

Then there’s the other useful stuff we do, like our online information resources or spreading the word about our members inspirational success, as well as providing e-newsletters and social media updates full of useful items.

We advocate on behalf of our members with regional, national and international bodies, ensuring their issues and needs are under the eyes - and on the minds - of decision makers. And working in partnership with other organisations means we can create positive action on crucial issues. Partnership working also allows us to help members bring further benefits to their local communities.

We also offer services to any other organisation running a community farm or garden (for example local authorities, schools, trusts, hospitals, housing associations and public buildings).

Improving People's Lives

Many people assume that community gardens and city or care farms are just nice places to visit where plants are grown and animals kept. But that is far from the whole picture.

Many of them also offer an amazing array of benefits and opportunities, which can include education programmes, play schemes, healthy living initiatives, work and skills training, social enterprises, volunteer opportunities, environmental schemes, horticultural therapy groups, facilities for people with disabilities…the list goes on and on!

Our work helps:

  • 200 city and school farms
  • 1,000 community gardens
  • All the UK's care farms
  • Hundreds of farms and gardens in development

Between them our members engage and empower thousands of volunteers and attract over three million visitors each year. Their estimated combined annual turnover is in excess of £40 million.

Growing Communities

"Joining Social Farms & Gardens is the best thing we did. They have helped us with our constitution and advised on charitable status. Being part of a wide network it has given us credibility."

Thetford's Forgotten Garden, Norfolk

Growing People

"It has been a great source of pleasure to me to watch this organisation become a real force for good in recent years, not least in the development of national policy. I hope and pray that this will continue for the next thirty years because there is no doubt in my mind that its work is only going to grow in importance."

HRH The Prince Of Wales