Our Garden has had a revamp we bought timber for the raised beds and got some compost plus managed to get volunteers to clear the path, level it and place a membrane before spreading wood-chips to allow easy access. Work in progress.

We will be removing the old scaffolding boards that prompted the raised beds and erecting a higher raised one so that people with mobility scooters and wheelchairs can easily access the beds without disembarking or kneeling. This also makes young children able to participate fully.

Our Project has been very special to the people of Lewes we have been able to provide produce to the community Fridge and a cohort of young people from the SEND 6th form college have been hosted in various classes for compost making and horticultural skills the Lewes Food program has allowed us to hold training lessons to individuals within the community to gain skills in growing vegetables, preserving and cooking using recipes simply derived from the locally grown vegetables.
The football club now awards the man of the match a token fruit from our garden.
The Press has been interviewing and promoting our project.

We had an attack of blight on our Tomatoes we have now cleared the patch were there was an infection and we will wait for the pumpkins to be big enough and then we will be removing the scaffolding boards from the original raised beds and replace them with sturdier timber to raise the beds so that wheelchair users can easily access them.

Hello! I hope that all is well in your side. Just checking in your project to see how things are going? Please do schedule a call whenever you are ready! Looking forward to speaking with you!

Hello Lewes FC team! Congratulations of receiving your funding. Let's schedule a kickstart call soon to plan your project. please be mindful of planning well before spending any money :). You still have a site visit (virtual or in person) that can be scheduled in the next couple of weeks. Looking forward to working with your team of growers!

Congratulations on getting your funding! Please do let me know when you are ready for starting your project. Looking forward to getting started!

Action plan:

Timeline: We have managed to put up some planting beds and we are meeting every Friday at 11:00 am

Budget: Due to safety reasons we need to erect a fence to prevent slippings into the steep slopes. We need railway sleepers to raise the beds.

Impact: How will your community benefit from this project? The local Food banks will be able to get fresh produce and we will be aiming to decrease the use of foodbanks by giving the community our products through the community fridge scheme. Do you have any measurable goals for your project, such as the number of people that will participate? Are you hoping to spread knowledge or increase interest in a specific subject? We are embarking on training opportunities to teach on cooking from scratch nutritiuos food from the garden plus composting

Location: If your project requires physical space, have you decided the location? Do you have all necessary permission and permits to carry out your project at the chosen location? Lewes FC stadium we have all the required permissions

Additional questions

Please answer the questions below as much as you can. 

Growing Space will review the information you provide before your kickstart call. 

This will help save time and get you started straight on your project once you receive your seed funding!

1) Please take a few pictures of your site (at different time of the day ideally and when the sun is out).

2) Please write here a small description of what you would ideally like to achieve We are aiming to grow some fruit trees and vines to encourage permaculture with a few other trees as wind breaks

3) Please confirm the age group of children you are working with and that will be involved in the implementation of your project at the moment we have toddlers between the age of 6 months and 3 year olds but we intend to invite school children from the primary schools.

4) Please give us the estimate of the number of children that your new Mini Growing Space will benefit (can be directly and indirectly) 20-50

5) What activities do you plan to offer that will include your community (other than children) (for instance, parents, neighbours, extended families of children or else, elderly people) We are encouraging students from the 6th form college to come and experience the Mini garden and have had requests from the special needs fraternity.

6) What do you already have in your site that can be reused (material, structures etc)? we have a few plank of wood that we are using to make the initial raised beds and 3 water butts.

7) Water access - please state if you have water access on your site and if you are willing to install a water butt (not obligatory) Yes

8) Please confirm in writing here that you have permission from a manager or landlord (of the building or head of a school  (as necessary) that says that they are happy to make the improvement of their outdoor space and let you lead the project. We have got permission from the Stadium manager to plant trees but no permanent structures like concrete buildings!!

Please note that it is your responsibility to ask a written permission to the site owner. The process is simple but essential to avoid delays in the future. This can be done an email or official head letter from a landlord or manager etc.  Thank you for being diligent.

That’s all for now! 

We are excited to get you started!