The estimated equivalent of 69 Wembley football pitches or 124 acres of disused land in London now brimming with fruit and veg

The Mayor of London today announced that the ambitious target to deliver 2,012 Capital Growth spaces has been reached, following a four-year scheme to turn disused plots of land into community spaces abundant with fruit and veg. Nearly 100,000 green fingered Londoners have participated to achieve this leafy Olympic legacy.
 
The Capital Growth scheme, run by London Food Link, was launched by the Mayor and Rosie Boycott, Chair of London Food, in November 2008.  It aimed to create 2,012 growing spaces in London by the end of 2012 with funding from the Mayor and the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food programme. The idea is to bring local neighbourhoods and communities together while giving Londoners a chance to grow their own food and green their local area. It is also a response to growing allotment waiting lists, particularly in inner London boroughs, which can be decades long. Capital Growth has worked with landowners and local groups to help identify land for growing and then help people get started in creating successful gardens by providing training and tools. There are now Capital Growth spaces in every London borough.
 
Food gardens signed up to the scheme have flourished in an extraordinarily diverse and creative range of places, covering an estimated 124 acres of previously disused land. Capital Growth spaces are now growing on roofs, in donated recycling boxes, in skips, alongside canals and in builders' bags providing healthy food to a range of places including shops and restaurants. The spaces have supported skills and enterprise training, market gardening initiatives and even the development of 50 community bee hives. Some of the Capital Growth spaces have now scaled up into social enterprises selling produce into cafes, restaurants and market stalls and providing jobs for local people.  Other projects that the campaign has supported include larger farms, such as Organic Lea in Waltham Forest that employs 13 full and part time staff doing market gardening under glass houses leased from the local authority. The biggest response to the Capital Growth challenge has come from schools with 687 schools signed up involving 66,000 pupils.
 
The 2,012th space was today announced by the Mayor as St Charles Centre for health and wellbeing in North Kensington. The project, based in a disused courtyard of a hospital, will engage a range of community groups, including youth groups and Age UK, as well as hospital staff to grow their own healthier food.
 
The Mayor, Boris Johnson, said: ‘I am proud that we have reached this ambitious target to create 2012 edible gardens across London, bringing communities together in a common goal. Vibrant Capital Growth spaces have sprouted up in formerly derelict corners of our city delivering a range of social and environmental benefits for the local communities. Nearly 100,000 Londoners have rolled up their sleeves to achieve this fantastic legacy for the city in this historic year and I'd like to thank everyone for their hard work to make this possible.’
 
Rosie Boycott said: ‘I want to say a huge thank you to London Food Link, our many sponsors and partners as well as all the wonderful volunteers who have transformed forgotten, unloved spots across the city. There are some truly inspiring stories of communities coming together to green their local spaces reaping a wide range of dividends not least cheaper, healthier food. Capital Growth has played a major role in the revival of urban gardening in London, placing us in the top rank of cities who are seeking to reconnect with the pleasures of food growing.’
 
Sarah Williams part of the Capital Growth team, based at London Food Link, said: ‘Capital Growth has been able to help so many amazing and inspiring people, across London and from every walk of life, but it is the people running the projects that have made the real difference.  We are looking forward to celebrating this huge achievement with them and to building on the success of the network in the New Year.'
 
Capital Growth facts (Source – London Food Link survey of 1100 Capital Growth spaces)

• Nearly 100,000 Londoners have rolled up their sleeves to grow food on the 2012 Capital Growth spaces
• At least 750 people have gone onto formal training or employment as a result of being involved in a Capital Growth project
• 71% of people have made a new friend with someone in the neighbourhood or local area as a result of getting involved
• 38% of people feel safer in their neighbourhood as a result of the growing project
• 20% of Capital Growth spaces are on housing estates and Capital Growth has worked closely with eleven housing associations and other landlords to encourage more projects on housing land;
• There are 687 schools that grow food as part of Capital Growth accounting for almost 35% of the spaces
• Every London borough has at least one Capital Growth food growing space, and six London boroughs have over 100 Capital Growth spaces each.
• 1000 groups - including schools, and residents’ groups – have been supported with grants as part of Capital Growth assistance, to help them buy tools, seeds and other equipment so they can get started. Capital Growth has also trained over 1000 people in urban food growing at its flagship site in Regent’s Park.
• The 2012th growing space,  St Charles Centre for health and wellbeing in North Kensington, received 10 trees from Gardening Express, and self assembly raised beds from Woodblocx, as well as Bulldog tools and other prizes to get them growing in 2013.

Case Studies

• Capital Growth space number 815, Barking and Dagenham: Plantastic Prescription Gardens - This space has set up food growing activities for people with various health issues: the space users suffer from obesity, stroke, mental health issues, high blood pressure and diabetes. Members benefit from adapted healthy gardening exercise and those with mental and physical health challenges have gardening access with their carers on selected days enabling them to learn new skills through the project.
• Capital Growth space 225: Fairway Primary School, Barnet - This primary school whilst in temporary accommodation until their new school was being built, has created new growing spaces for the gardening club to grow food. The children were able to get involved in every stage from drawing a plan for the garden to raising money to create their own food growing spaces outside their classrooms, developing their enterprise skills through food sales, tastings and providing salads for the school kitchen, as well as involving parents and a local supermarket and garden centre.
• Capital Growth space 1548: Cedars Road, Lambeth is a food growing space run by St. Mungo's - They run their 'Putting Down Root's' programme, a gardening project for people who are currently homeless, have been in the past, or are at risk of becoming homeless. While supplying fruit and vegetables from the allotment to local cafes space users have gained invaluable skills and qualifications that will enable them to find their way back to work.

Ends

Notes to Editors:

• Capital Growth was launched in 2008 to provide practical and financial help to Londoners wanting to set up or expand food growing spaces. The scheme was funded from 2008 – 2012 by the Mayor of London and by the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food programme, a £59.8 million funding programme that has funded hundreds of projects like Capital Growth.  In 2013 Capital Growth will continue supporting its 2,012 members thanks to funding from The Social Action Fund, The Mayor of London and the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food programme. The Mayor’s funding will help growing spaces that have potential to be developed as social enterprises selling their produce to local people. For further information go to www.capitalgrowth.org.
• The Mayor sees Capital Growth as a key part of his Team London initiative to encourage Londoners to get engaged with volunteering in their communities, to improve lives through programmes that will reduce crime, increase opportunities for youth and improve quality of life by cleaning and greening London and building stronger neighbourhoods. www.london.gov.uk/teamlondon.
• Anyone interested in finding out more about how to get involved in food growing should visit the Capital Growth website at www.capitalgrowth.org
• Boosting the amount of locally grown food in London has a range of health and environmental benefits, such as improving access to nutritious, low cost food in urban areas. It also reduces food miles and cuts carbon emissions. There is rising interest in self-grown food and inner London boroughs have waiting lists for allotments that can be decades long.
• Capital Growth has food growing spaces in a diverse range of places including schools, a prison, on roofs, in skips, on canal banks and on housing estates. Some spaces are engaged in social enterprise and bee keeping whilst providing skills and training.
• Capital Growth has also worked closely with sponsors including Gardening Express, an online company selling a wide range of edible and ornamental plants who have donated over 500 fruit trees to the campaign. www.gardeningexpress.co.uk
• Bulldog Tools have been making tools since 1870 and continue to produce their tools from a forge in the UK www.bulldogtools.co.uk and have supported the campaign with donations of tools and also their RHS Chelsea awarding winning garden in 2011.
• Wood Blocx have supported the campaign by donating three of their unique raised beds, which recently received backing from Dragons Den’s Peter Jones. www.woodblocx.co.uk

14/12/2012