What we did
We recruited 15 volunteers who invited their 10 nearest neighbours to take part in our project. We grew seedlings, and bought and collected seeds of 10 different kinds of vegetable and fruit. As well as these, we offered window boxes, tubs and compost to 100 local families, many of whom don’t have growing space as they live in flats or their front garden has been concreted over. We also ran front garden workshops in making cuttings whilst lockdown was still going on, and later a chutney making workshop with apples one person had from her trees. Two participants made short videos on how to grow gourds. We also did a cuttings workshop in the Transition Ilford Forest garden once restrictions were lifted
Many people took an interest in growing for the first time. People were thrilled when crops actually grew!
In one street there was a noticeable “knock on” effect in that other people (who were not in the project) also started to grow in containers in their front garden.
Another benefit was that people got to know their neighbours better. We live in an ethnically very diverse neighbourhood, so it was great to see people of different backgrounds mixing.
We formed a planning group which enabled different people to offer skills they have. For example one person went round local hardware shops and got vouchers we could use for their products (like plant food).
We were keen to involve Bangladeshi women, some of whom were already excellent gardeners. We recruited two Bangladeshi volunteers who contacted other people in their community.  They grew excellent  Khodu (Gourd)  and tomatoes, which were in great demand!