Grounded Community
In conversation with Michael French, charity coordinator at Grounded Community, reconnecting members of our community with nature.
Hi Michael! Can you give us an introduction to the Grounded Community?
We are a group of local people who recognised we needed to learn skills long forgotten and be able to build resilient community sufficiency. Based in Boscombe, a deprived ward of Dorset, we set out to subsidise people's income through food growing. This journey took us through trialling lots of different ways to do this, but finally we became an education charity.
The charity's main aims are to enable people to grow their own food and support a closed loop system which involves pollinating bees, growing food, collecting food waste and food surplus, supporting those on low incomes and then managing all food waste to produce compost for more growing.
We hold weekly food growing sessions, preserving food sessions, little gardeners programme, bee keeper mentoring, food waste collections, food box distribution and much more.
We’d love to know your story. How did it all begin?
Grounded Community began as a social enterprise in 2015. A school and church community had unearthed A Secret Garden in 2012 and it was in this space that the project came to life. We established a food-growing area in a car park and commenced greenhouse growing in the New Forest, which we have been doing for the past three years, providing local cafés and residents with fresh produce. Throughout this process we have also developed an educational aspect to the charity helping people build a sense of independence through growing. In 2020 we gained charity status and won a large lottery grant to give us 50% of what we need for 5 years, we now employ 9 part time staff with 140+ volunteers. There is a lot of hard work and consistent dedication involved.
What will the Grounded Community be getting up to this summer?
This summer we will grow as much food as possible at both the Secret Garden and Churchill Gardens and give this to those who need it. We are currently wrapping up our Social Canteen Pilot program, where we experimented with a new approach to communal dining. Over the past few months, we have served incredible meals to over 700 individuals. We collaborated with other community members and utilised the Food Bank Garden Rooms cafe in Boscombe. For those interested in creating their own Social Canteen, a PDF pack will be made available. Additionally, we are in the process of finalising our Nursery Garden, which will enable us to supply plug plants to the community, as well as completing our Deck area, which will host outdoor cooking events. We also have a glass-top beehive and will be hosting children's bee experiences. Among other activities, we will be organising seed swaps, community meals, foraging excursions, apple pressing events, sessions for little gardeners, and workshops on basic food growing and raised bed construction for home spaces.
What is the best way for people to get involved/support the Grounded Community?
We are always looking for volunteers and you can contact volunteer@groundedcommunity.co.uk to find out more, you can also visit our website and event space at groundedcommunity.co.uk If you would like to show your support, you can become a ‘Friend Of Grounded’ member and donate monthly to the charity's work. More importantly, you can start your own food growing journey and learn the skills you need. Then share these skills and knowledge with others. We believe that ‘Together we can grow’.
Website → groundedcommunity.co.uk
Instagram → @groundedcommunitycharity
