Incredible Farm – Growing young market gardeners in Oldham

Incredible Farm has been awarded £10,000 through the Get Oldham Growing fund to deliver activities in partnership with Mahldo Youth Zone. Its aim is to increase the skills of young people and their families in sustainable growing methods, healthy cooking and food entrepreneurship.

The partners:

Incredible Farm – a social enterprise that’s focuses on training people in the skills of growing and marketing food, improving the image of land based careers, creating land based employment and increasing the local food supply

Mahdlo – an Oldham charity that provides                                                              opportunities for young people to come together to meet friends, have new experiences, learn new skills and access the support they need to develop and achieve their potential.

The Get Oldham Growing funded project called Mahdlo Growing Zones, will see 40 workshops being delivered in and around the Mahdlo centre. It will increase the amount and effectiveness of food growing around the centre by junior, senior and family zone members.

But it won’t stop there; entrepreneurial skills will be developed by running a series of town centre pop up market stalls where young people can sell their produce, increasing access to locally grown, organic food.

Nikki Davies, Incredible Farm Manager: “The Get Oldham Growing Project will enable us to inspire young people to look after their food futures and shape their neighbourhoods, it closely meets our aims as a social enterprise, allowing us to act and plan sustainably through the cooperative partnerships it gives us access to across the borough. Hopefully more local authorities will learn from Oldham Public Health’s approach and follow putting health inequalities, access to local healthy food and enterprise at the centre of their agendas. Well done Oldham Council and partners for helping us to get on and grow!”

For more information contact nikki@incrediblefarm.org.uk

The Rangers help Get Oldham Growing

In 2012, The Rangers Foundation took over the management of a 10 acre plot of land on the edge of the Sholver Estate. With a 30 year lease from the Council, the group have gone from strength to strength securing funding to develop the site into an important community sporting and food growing facility for local people.

Their vision is to create a well-protected and enhanced natural environment that is managed and cared for by local residents.

In May 2013 they opened their community garden with the aim of involving local people of all ages in growing their own vegetables and encouraging healthy living. Since then they have also planted their own orchard of over 100 fruit trees.

Their work is a wonderful example what can be done when people come together with a vision for a piece of land and a passion for supporting their communities. Exactly the kind of thing Get Oldham Growing wants to support!

The group have recently been successful with a funding application to the Get Oldham Growing fund to help them make the next steps in further establishing their site as a hub for community food growing and food education.

Their grant of £9,850 will be used to employ a volunteer co-ordinator specifically for the site, that will lead on the community engagement activities, in addition to some activity and material costs. The grant will help bring new people to the facility and get more people seeing the benefits of growing their own food.

Rose Johnstone: “This Get Oldham Growing grant will enable us to employ a member of staff to raise the profile of our organisation and involve volunteers in the wider community by training them to grow vegetables and to encourage healthy lifestyles which in turn can save them money”

They are also planning to increase the amount of food growing activity that takes place on the site during the school holiday period. It is anticipated that an additional 150 people will access the site over the coming months as a result of the input of the Volunteer Coordinator supported by Get Oldham Growing.

For more information or to get involved in upcoming activities contact Rose Johnstone on 01706 881806 or at Rose.Johnstone@sky.com