  We are excited to have our new 40ft Polytunnel in place ready to propagate seeds for this years’ vegetables and we will also be introducing a new plug plant range for all our keen home growers! We are grateful to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council who part-funded this project through the West Kent Rural Grant Scheme. We also have a new Field Shelter under construction in the wildlife area which will support our 2025 primary school visits programme. This is thanks to funding from Cllr Trudy Dean via the KCC Combined Members Grant Scheme. |
| Bingo Night Eyes down for our first fundraising Bingo Night on Saturday 22nd March from 6-8.30pm at West Malling Village Hall. An action packed evening of bingo, table games and refreshments. Adults and children 8 years and above are welcome. Booking is essential, you can book your tickets and ploughman’s supper here.  PrizesWe are always in need of prizes/unwanted gifts for our fundraising events. Maybe you are a local company that would like to sponsor one of our events or provide a voucher, bottle of fizz, hamper or something similar? Please contact jane@communigrow.org.uk School Visits As well as our weekly work experience sessions for Five Acre Wood and Grow 19 students, Broomhill School and Palace Wood Primary also enjoyed visits to Communigrow. Our latest exciting project supports students with additional needs from Five Acre Wood School and St Katherine’s School to come together to prepare tasty dishes using vegetables they harvest from our beds. These sessions teach practical skills while building confidence and social skills. From pumpkin pancakes to beetroot houmous, they’ve really made the most of seasonal veg! “It’s fun doing cooking, especially because we get to pick it, chop it and then cook it. I love eating it the most!” – Cassie Thank you to the Minerva Foundation and Howard Family Fund for funding these sessions.  Click to find out more about our fantastic class visits for mainstream schools or SEN Schools. Home Education Sessions at Communigrow This term our older home ed students have had a great time learning basic woodwork skills with Gavin and Logan in our Dutch Barn. Younger home ed students have enjoyed learning how to care for the garden and nature over winter. You can find details of the next sessions here.  Communigrow Tots Our Communigrow Tots group meets weekly at The East Malling Centre on Thursday mornings 10-11.30am (term time) to enjoy fun packed sessions learning about nature, growing and spending time exploring the woods. No need to book, just come along to a session – £3 per tot! On 18th February, 10am-12pm, join us at the East Malling Centre for our FREE Brilliant Birds – cook, craft and learn session. No need to book. Garden Gate Bereavement Group This is a free 2 hour session on Friday mornings, for people who feel that a community gardening experience may help them in their time of loss. Rather than traditional 1:2:1 talking therapy, we offer activities we hope will make people feel better alongside others who understand how they feel. Importantly, there will always be a cup of tea and somewhere lovely to sit, chat or just be. We caught up with group leader, Richard King, a qualified counsellor and CBT Therapist who currently works within primary care mental health services. Richard said, “Gardening keeps people looking forward. Watching a garden grow and develop, being in contact with the soil and seeing the plants transform is so rewarding and encouraging. Having a weekly activity in your diary and coming along to a safe, comfortable place each week is really healthy for the human mind.” To find out more about this group and how to join, visit our website or email gardengate@communigrow.org.uk Once again, thanks to everyone who supported our crowdfunding campaign to enable us to establish this group.   Meet Logan, our new Apprentice Logan joins the Communigrow team as our first apprentice. He is working towards his Level 3 Crop Technician qualification and will be with us at Communigrow throughout his 2 year course – he will have particular responsibility for the crops in our new polytunnel. Logan is looking forward to growing tomatoes and he tells us that his favourite veg is the humble onion as it is the base of so many delicious dishes! This apprentice role was made possible thanks to funding from The Finnis Scott Foundation to whom we are very grateful.Thank You! We are incredibly grateful to the following organisations for the support they have given Communigrow over the past few months:  Perrys Chartered Accountants In September a heroic team from Perrys Chartered Accountants took part in the 3 Peaks Challenge raising over £6000 to support the educational and horticultural work with our beneficiaries. We are in awe of their efforts and incredibly grateful! Fileder We started the New Year with a bang thanks to a wonderfully generous donation of £6750 from Fileder Filter Systems Ltd. Suzie from Fileder, visited us at the end of last year and explained that they were keen to support our work with children and young people. Fileder has provided funding for 10 Get Set Grow family workshops, a fantastic field Kitchen and a pizza oven to support our field to fork cookery sessions!  Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council – People and Skills Fund We are very grateful to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council who have provided funding for a therapeutic gardening group for veterans and ex-emergency services personnel at Communigrow. Plans are underway to start this group in March. If you would like to know more or be involved in the group please email info@communigrow.org.uk.  Scrummi West Malling based B Corp, Scrummi, also undertook a fundraising event for us before Christmas hiking across the Kent countryside. They raised over £650 to support our sustainable food education charity – thank you! Involve We are very grateful to Involve Kent who have provided us with £2500 to support our volunteering programme from the Involve Kent Social Prescribing Grant. As a small charity we depend heavily on our wonderful team of volunteers and we know that they also report enhanced mental and physical wellbeing while volunteering with us. If you would like to get involved with volunteering at Communigrow, email volunteer@communigrow.org.uk.  Atwood Benefits UK Ltd Once again our lovely neighbours and long term supporters, Atwood Benefits UK Ltd have ensured we stay warm by sponsoring our fleeces, T-Shirts, aprons and hoodies. What great friends we have! Raised Bed Appeal A huge thank you to the businesses and individuals who sponsored a raised bed in our Christmas Appeal.  This campaign will be running throughout the year. By sponsoring a raised bed for a year from as little as £100 you can help us continue the work we do for the community. A sign with your company logo or name will be displayed at Communigrow and we would love to celebrate your donation on our social media pages!Find out more here  Gardening to Feel Great – at risk Since 2021 we have delivered 1575 wellbeing sessions for people aged 55+ and those with health conditions who gain benefit from meeting new people and taking part in outdoor physical activity.This programme, funded by KCC via local community support charity Involve, is now at risk from funding cuts. 44 organisations currently deliver the Support in the Community Contract, but this will be reduced to just 8. What are we doing? Donna, our wellbeing coordinator, has supported our members to engage in consultation to ensure we are informed of the impact on our group and also to represent their views to KCC.Our service offers excellent value to address issues of isolation and loneliness, which if left unresolved can escalate and impact on physical and mental health, increasing demand and cost to the NHS.We are actively looking for support to replace the funding – approximately £4,500 per annum. If you can help us continue Gardening to Feel Great, please get in touch at info@communigrow.org.uk.We expect funding to end April 2025, until then our Winter Wellness sessions will take place every Wednesday,10.30-12.30pm, book a session via eventbrite, or email wellbeing@communigrow.org.uk   Carbon LiteracyCommunigrow is working to become a Carbon Literate organisation, with training provided by climate educator Jen Gale of Sustainable(ish). A group of 14 staff, volunteers and trustees from Communigrow undertook training this month which has been funded by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. We are all fired up ready to make some positive changes to reduce our impact on the planet! Development Manager Joshua said:”I came out of the training feeling inspired. We’re investigating how to do more in this space – I hope that by the end of 2025 we’ll be in a position to start delivering training like this ourselves.”  Keep you eyes peeled on your inboxes and our social media and website for an update coming soon about future Field School sessions for children and young people and our very popular workshops for adults, including a new Flower Power series! |
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Winter update 2025
