Community food projects to help reduce impact of climate change in Wales

Welsh communites will be supported to access land to grow to help reduce the impact of climate change, thanks to today’s announcement of a £600,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund (BIG).

The Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens (FCFCG) receives the grant through BIG’s Climate Change programme. It will use the cash to deliver a five-year Community Land Advisory Service (CLAS) project across Wales. CLAS will aim to increase community access to land, by providing specialist guidance and support to around 250 community food growing projects and 100 landowners.

An estimated 5,000 people, engaged in projects such as community gardens, farms, allotments and orchards, will directly benefit with indirect benefits including improved health and well-being and healthy eating, to around 50,000 people. It will also see the setting up of 75 new projects across Wales.

News of the grant was announced today at the FCFCG’s Communities Buying Land event at Bute Education Centre in Cardiff.

Katie Jones, Development Manager for FCFCG’s Welsh programme Tyfu Pobl, said: “The Big Lottery Fund grant will be a great boost for community growing across Wales, as accessing land is one of the biggest barriers communities face in creating spaces to grow. The Community Land Advisory Service will not only help to remove some of these barriers, but will also act as as a catalyst for both community groups and willing landowners to find the support they need to bring more land into cultivation. This will increase and engage more people in the production of local food in Wales, helping to reduce our impact on the climate and contributing to the creation of more sustainable and resilient communities.“

With offices in Cardiff, Newtown, Bangor and Narberth, FCFCG will deliver the advisory service across Wales and aims to influence Welsh policy to improve future access to land. Three people will be employed to deliver the project with further support from stakeholder and advisory groups.

“CLAS Wales will help new communities to navigate through the challenges associated with finding land, negotiating a lease and obtaining planning,“ said Katie. “It will also support landowners who are unsure about community land use. As a result we should see more community groups in operation, and be able to better support the fantastic work of established projects.“

John Rose, Wales director for the Big Lottery Fund, said: “This award helps demonstate the Big Lottery Fund’s commitment to helping combat climate change. The money will help empower people to grow their own food which will not only help boost community spirit but also increase skills and sustainability. Projects like this form part of the wider jigsaw to improve Wales and the wider world for future generations while helping to deliver our mission of helping communities most in need.”

CLAS Wales will add another dimension to the range of advice and skills FCFCG offers and will contribute to a new, innovative partnership called Growing Together which aims to help communities raise income to fund their community growing projects.

The funding from the Big Lottery Fund will also complement FCFCG’s Tyfu Pobl (Growing People) programme in Wales, which supports and advises both existing and emerging community growing projects, enabling the sharing and transfer of best practice information, knowledge and skills. Tyfu Pobl supports a variety of community growing models including: community farms/gardens/orchards, allotments, community supported agriculture and community-managed market gardens. This three-year programme is funded through the Rural Development Plan for Wales, which is itself funded by the Welsh Government and the European Union.

For more information about FCFCG in Wales visit http://www.farmgarden.org.uk/wales