Wales

Coronavirus COVID - 19

If you are based in Wales and in need of support and guidance around any issues related to Covid - 19 then we recommend referring to the following resources:

Welsh Government latest information

This page on the Welsh Government website is the best place to find the latest information from the political perspective.

Welsh Council for Voluntary Associations

The WCVA (Welsh Council for Voluntary Associations) are providing daily updates more relevant and specific to our sector. To view this, register for their free mailchimp newsletter.

If there is anything not covered in this that you seek support with please email wales@farmgarden.org.uk

For our full Coronavirus COVID - 19 support page click here

The Social Farms & Gardens team in Wales currently runs three programmes, covering a wide area of work to support and promote community growing in Wales. Read on to find out more about our work in Wales.

• See below for a map view or list of Social Farms & Gardens members in Wales, as well as local news, events and case studies. There are also lots of useful information resources available for social farmers, gardeners and growers on our Resources page.  
• If you are looking for members that offer commissioned health, social care or special education services (such as care farms), please follow this link.

Tyfu Fyny

Tyfu Fyny translates as 'Growing Up' as it built on our previous work through the 'Tyfu Pobl' programme. Our 3-year Rural Development Programme funded project ‘Tyfu Fyny’ has now come to an end. It’s been a fantastic 3 years and during that time we have got to know the community growing sector in a Wales a little more. So, a massive thanks to everyone that has contributed and participated to in its great success. Below is just a snapshot of some of our targets and how they have been exceeded:

•    The number of participants in training target was 322 – our project total is a staggering 1263
•    The number of stakeholders engaged target was 6,000 – our project total sits at 9527
•    The number of feasibility studies revised target of 5 – our total for the project is 6 
•    The number of training days completed target was 184 – our project total was 199
We will be producing a more formal evaluation of the project over the next month or so. 

If you have received support from us during the 3 years of Tyfu Fyny you may be contacted for some feedback – please keep an eye out for any correspondence! Please support our evaluation process by completing the survey we’d be most grateful. 

Click on the following link for more details: Tyfu Fyny Programme for Wales.

CLAS Cymru

Is your community looking for land to set up a community garden or food growing project?
 
Would you like to use local authority land for a wildlife project?
 
Do you need help getting permissions to use land for the benefit of your community?
 
Do you need guidance on setting up and progressing your green space project?
 
The Community Land Advisory Service in Wales (CLAS Cymru) is funded by Welsh Government to support community green space projects to acquire land and gain all the necessary permissions including planning, so that they can set up and manage green spaces as effectively as possible. The Service provides specialist support and advice to a wide variety of community led green space projects across Wales.
 
This year the funding will also provide two part time development workers to support community green space projects to set up and progress. This ongoing and expanded funding demonstrates the Welsh Government’s commitment to driving up the quality of local green space and supporting communities to identify and take control of the green spaces around them.
   
CLAS Cymru works in collaboration with the Green Flag Community Award which is managed by Keep Wales Tidy. We are working with them to increase the number of community managed green spaces and the number of eligible green flag community sites. CLAS Cymru runs its own award programme to recognise community projects that have managed to acquire land for effective green space projects such as orchards, woodlands and community gardens. All these projects manage valuable nature-based activities and the CLAS Cymru Community Managed Award is a steppingstone to achieving a Green Flag Community Award.
   
CLAS Cymru also and has a partner programme with Cardiff University Law School and Blake Morgan LLP law firm to work on case studies and provide up to date guidance documents and templates. We continue to work with them to keep our website up to date with the latest advice on leases, licenses and other legal issues around community land.   
If you would like more information or need advice on getting land to set up your community green space project please contact our CLAS Cymru Coordinator Lucie Taylor - lucie@farmgarden.org.uk 

Community Management Awards (ON HOLD DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC - CHECK BACK FOR AN UPDATES).

Each year we hold a Community Management Awards Ceremony to acknowledge new community managed green spaces and to celebrate communities being able to manage and have some ownership of the green spaces around them. Gaining permission and starting to manage a green space; be it an orchard, community garden or a woodland; is the fruition of a huge amount of hard work, consultation, negotiation and organisation. The Awards Ceremony recognise those achievements and the good work volunteers are doing.

If you know of a new or up and coming community managed green space project that is doing great things please email the name of the project and a point of contact to lucie@farmgarden.org.uk. We will assign the project to one of our fieldworkers for them to be assessed for the Award. Groups need to be constituted, insured and have gained permission to manage the land.

Orchards Project

We are excited to announce that we have officially begun work on our Orchards Project! We are calling for any fruit-tree suppliers that may be able to help us source the best trees for our selected projects. Please contact: wales@farmgarden.org.uk

Edible Playgrounds 

At Social Farms and Gardens - Wales, are very pleased and excited to be working in partnership with Trees for Cities on the Edible Playgrounds programme in the Cardiff area. We will be delivering the school engagement and yearlong teacher support for the Edible Playgrounds projects in the area.

The Edible Playgrounds programme from Trees for Cities transforms school grounds into vibrant outdoor teaching gardens that inspire hands-on learning and get children excited about growing and eating healthy food. They help improve health and wellbeing, open up access to nature, and provide a fun outdoor learning environment that supports cross-curriculum teaching.  

The Edible Playgrounds programme offers a comprehensive service comprising engagement of the whole school community, design, build, planting with pupils, teacher training, and planning support throughout the academic year. 

The uniqueness and value of the programme lies in embedding food-growing into the school curriculum across all subjects so that teachers learn to teach through gardening, not to become gardeners themselves. This approach builds teachers’ skills and confidence to use their Edible Playground in fresh, innovative ways as an outdoor teaching resource.

For more information please get in touch: wales@farmgarden.org.uk 
 

Have A Grow Day (ON HOLD FOR NOW DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC - CHECK BACK FOR AN UPDATES).

Have A Grow Day is a community gardens open day for Wales. The first 'Have a Grow Day' took place in 2018 and it took place again at the beginning of June 2019. The day is a way of promoting and celebrating the work of community growing groups who help transform lives and neighbourhoods all over Wales. It's also a chance to raise some money through donations from visitors and even finding some new volunteers! Whether you’re involved as a visitor, volunteer or staff member, the idea is to spread the word and promote your local community garden or allotment, school garden or community supported agriculture scheme.

We have lots of exciting plans in store for Have A Grow Day in 2020.

More coming soon - so watch this space but in the meantime, if you're interested in finding out more please contact: wales@farmgarden.org.uk

Growing Hope Project - in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Alongside the Edible Cardiff Network, we are pleased to be launching the #GrowingHope project - we will be delivering over 1,000 growing packs in the Cardiff area through Cardiff Council's food bank scheme - check our Social Media for more updates soon! 

Additional Information and advice on social gardening and farming in Wales

• Online information and advice useful for Welsh community growers, via our Resources page
• Videos about community growing in Wales
• Details and useful resources from the 2016 Wales Future Generation Growers conference
• Information on the Wales Community Supported Agriculture Network

You can also follow us on social media